The Definition of Insanity
by Gajeelswoman
Summary: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and expecting different results... Fairy Tail are holding another S-Class trials after the problems that occurred last time... but can they expect anything to change this time around? Rated M for occasional smut. Collaboration with Muddyevil.
1. Chapter 1

**The Definition of Insanity**

 **By Muddyevil and Gajeelswoman**

 **Disclaimer - This has been rated M for occasional smut. It starts off straight away. You have been warned.**

 **Also (I promise the story starts soon) this story is based in the same universe as Muddyevil's other fics, Iron and Paper & Soul Squared. Reading them isn't necessary, but there are a couple of references to it.**

* * *

Cana braced herself against her kitchen counter as Bacchus' hips slammed into the back of hers. Her teeth toyed with her bottom lip as the pleasure coursed through her body, forcing all of her muscles to tense and release. She screamed aloud as her orgasm wracked through her and her legs started to turn to jelly, but Bacchus grabbed onto her hips harder to keep her upright. His thrusts sped up, slamming into her harder and deeper before he grunted her name into the air.

As soon as he was finished he let go of her, allowing her legs to collapse underneath her and she fell to the floor. Bacchus groaned slightly, taking a few steps forwards before he collapsed onto the countertop, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

"You could have just, you know, not dropped me on the fucking floor."

Her knee connected with his shin and he cursed, nudging her hip with his foot. He could try and make it to the bed, but that would be too much effort and right now the cold marble of the countertop was bliss against his heated skin.

"Yeah, and you could have stayed standing up. Six of one, half a dozen of the other."

Cana giggled, rolling onto her back and looking up at him. She couldn't see his face from this angle, but something told her he was smirking. The sweet liquor they had been drinking all day had got her pleasantly buzzed, but she still couldn't wait to have just a little more.

"You sound like Freed, you know."

He crumpled to the floor, shoulder slamming into Cana's elbow where she couldn't move it out of the way quick enough. She swore as it shot pain up her arm, but he rolled onto his side and kissed her cheek in apology.

"Why do I sound like Freed?"

Cana smirked, turning her head so they could rub their noses together. It was sickly sweet and romantic, but sometimes it was just what she wanted.

"You know, all those idioms and shit."

Bacchus chuckled, stretching his legs out and batting at her feet with his. He was about to tell her that he wasn't the most intelligent person on the planet, but he was sure he hadn't used an idiom, when there was a harsh knock on the door. Cana groaned, and they had a silent conversation before she stood to her feet and made her way to the door.

She didn't even bother looking through the eyehole before she pulled the door open. Everyone in the guild had seen her naked anyway, what did she care?

"Look can you fuck off? I'm kinda busy…"

Her words trailed off when she realised just who was standing behind the door. He looked away almost instantly, and Cana closed the door until she could hide herself behind it.

"Oh, hi, Gildarts. Erm. Give me a moment and I'll get dressed."

The door shut, and Cana turned to look at Bacchus with wild eyes. He mirrored the expression, jumping up and starting to throw his clothes on. Cana found a shirt and some sweatpants without much hassle and helped Bacchus gather up the last of his things, before opening the window and hoping the drop wouldn't kill him.

"How long is he gonna be here?"

The words were in a low whisper, and Cana prayed that the man outside her apartment couldn't hear it.

"No idea. Head to the guildhall, I'll see you there soon. Oh. And let everyone know that they can absolutely not give him a clue as to what is happening with us."

Bacchus nodded, giving her a chaste kiss on her cheek before jumping out of the window. Cana let out a sigh of relief when he landed safely, before taking a deep breath and turning around to face her father. He was speaking before the door was even fully opened, the same familiar voice she had heard around the guild whenever he bothered to grace it with his presence.

"Do you often answer the door naked?"

Cana scoffed, moving out of the way so he could enter the apartment and thanking all of her lucky stars he wasn't a Dragon Slayer.

"Unless you haven't noticed, idiot, this is a girls only dorm. How did you even get in here?"

Gildarts grinned, scratching the back of his neck as he looked around his daughter's messy apartment.

"Being one of the only people who can pull rank on Erza helps. Plus everyone who lives here is young enough to be my daughter so…"

Cana snorted, pulling two beers out the fridge and offering one to him as he sat down at her table and she tried not to think of what she'd done on that chair the night before.

"Like that stops you? Why you back anyway?"

Gildarts took a swig from his drink, looking up at her in confusion.

"What? You haven't heard?"

* * *

Gildarts was sat in Makarov's office, surrounded by the other S Class Wizards. Mirajane and Erza were both perched on chairs they had brought up from the main hall alongside him, and Laxus was sat on the floor cradling a beer in his hand. Nice to see his banishment hadn't changed his casual nature in the least.

"I think Gajeel is definitely deserving of consideration."

Erza had a strawberry cake balanced on a plate in one hand, a fork held in the the other as she took another bite.

"Despite his beginnings in Phantom Lord he has definitely become a valued member of the guild, especially the hand he had in taking down Lin. He's certainly a strong wizard, not only in physical and magical strength but in tactical planning as well."

Makarov nodded, stroking his chin as he did. He didn't even attempt to write anything down, and Gildarts grinned. He liked to portray his mind was good enough to not need notes but he he had been through enough S Class trials to know what he was doing.

"My second suggestion is Wendy. She has come a long way since she entered the guild, and has definitely matured in both personality and magic power."

Mira tapped her chin with her pen, crossing one leg over the other and balancing the notepad she had back on her lap.

"Isn't she awfully young though?"

Erza looked over at the other female and took another bite of her cake, furrowing her eyes as she did.

"Younger than we were?"

Mira pointed her pen at Erza, matching the narrowing of her eyes. Gildarts rolled his eyes. The two women acted like they had gotten over the rivalry from their younger days but when it came to these S Class meetings it always surfaced again.

"You were fifteen and I was sixteen. Laxus was seventeen. Wendy's only twelve. I'm not saying she's not strong enough, I'm just saying it's an awful lot of responsibility for someone that young."

Erza finished off her cake, placing her fork on the plate and balancing it delicately on her lap.

"She IS a Dragon Slayer. They function differently than the rest of us."

Mira scoffed, tilting her head to her left to where Laxus was leaning against the wall.

"There's a Dragon Slayer in this room that proves that may not be a good thing."

Laxus finally looked up, and Gildarts was amazed he was actually paying attention to what was going on. Maybe he had grown up a bit.

"The fuck you trying to say, Mira?"

The takeover mage looked pointedly over at the Dragon Slayer, smiling as she did. It was sickly sweet, and Gildarts knew that smile was deadly to any man that opposed her.

"That you know more than anyone else how unstable Dragon Slayers can be."

Laxus ground his teeth, a low growl resonating from his throat, but it was cut off by his grandfather waving a hand.

"Alright. Enough of that. I'll take her into consideration. Any other recommendations, Erza?"

The requip mage crossed her arms over her chest, nodding as she did.

"I do, actually. I have two others." She sighed, closing her eyes for a second before she spoke. "Even though her personality… has a lot to be desired… Evergreen has worked incredible hard the last few months to get her health and magic back up to the standard it was before. That takes an awful lot of work and motivation."

Everyone nodded, no one could argue with that. The long recovery process after Lin had been hard on everyone that had been injured, but Evergreen especially.

"In addition to that, I would also like to nominate Elfman. He showed amazing selflessness supporting Evergreen through the recovery process along with the resilience to keep her going through even the darkest of times."

Makarov nodded slowly, and everyone else followed soon after. Mira was staring down at her hands, playing with her own fingers. No one else in the room mentioned anything about the tears welling in her eyes. Mira was proud of her brother, and no one had to acknowledge it for it to be common knowledge.

"Gildarts, what about you? Who do you recommend?"

The man thought to himself, leaning back in his own chair as he did.

"Well, of course I know that you're going to select Natsu, Master. But I think that you should give my baby girl another chance as well. She obtained Fairy Glitter the last time! She would have won if it hadn't been for everything that happened! She's strong, just makes her daddy so proud, you know! And she really kept her cool during everything that happened, so I've heard! And you can't deny that she helped keep things organized in the afterma-"

Gildarts' words were cut off by a massive fist slamming into the back of his head. He'd been rambling on despite Makarov's hands flailing around to get his attention, so the Fairy Tail guild master finally gave up and resorted to violence.

Mira coughed slightly, smiling as she prepared to make her suggestion.

"I want to nominate Kinana, she does a lot of hard work at the guild and picks up for me and Lisanna whenever we're out on jobs."

Everyone in the room looked at her, but it was only Erza that was brave enough to actually say anything.

"Mirajane, while I will admit that hard work is an important tenet to have as an S Class Wizard, Kinana doesn't even use magic."

The takeover mage smiled, shrugging her shoulders while she did.

"She can learn though, right?"

Erza looked at Mira incredulously. She wasn't sure what the other woman was thinking, exactly, but she certainly did know that she wasn't getting the logic.

"In a week, Mira?"

Mira shrugged again, still smiling, and Makarov tried not to roll his eyes, before turning around to look at Laxus.

"How about you, Laxus. Do you have any nominations?"

The Dragon Slayer scoffed, taking a drink out of his beer before looking his grandfather in the eyes.

"Does it even matter if I do? You're going to pick whoever you want, anyway. Why should I even waste my time on having an opinion?"

Mira smiled, the same sickly sweet smile that Laxus just knew was Freed's weakness, but it would not work on him.

"Come on, Laxus, we all gave our nominations!"

Makarov nodded, looking thoughtful as he did.

"All of your opinions are incredibly important to my decisions. You've always had such strong opinions on who should be chosen before, why not now?"

Laxus put his empty bottle down on the floor, standing up and dusting off his trousers where he had been resting on the floor.

"Then I will give you the same answer that I have given you every other year. I want my Raijinshuu. All of them, even the honorary members."

Without any further ado he left the room, no longer bothering to take part in the meeting. Makarov looked out after him, but didn't call out. Gildarts looked confused for a second, looking over at the Master.

"Who are the honorary members of the Raijinshuu?"

* * *

Elfman and Lisanna were playing cards with the Thunder Legion when Laxus got back. Bickslow had towers of betting tokens around him, he had always been the best at any kind of card game and no one could figure out why. They had learned to make sure none of his babies were flying around spying on them years ago, but even if they made sure they were nowhere to be seen he kept on winning. Evergreen looked up from her hand when Laxus sat down, leaning over to grab a beer to pass to him.

"What's up with you?"

Laxus shrugged, downing half of the beer in one before nodding at Freed to indicate he wanted a hand in the next round.

"Shitty S Class trials consideration meeting. Drives me mad every single year."

Lisanna smiled as she looked over the top of her cards at the Dragon Slayer, imitating her sister's sweetest smile and batting her eyelashes as she did.

"Did you vote for me, Laxus?"

Laxus scoffed, taking another drink out of his beer as he crossed his arms and waited for the next round so he could start to play.

"Why would I? You suck."

Lisanna pouted, but Bickslow just laughed as he played down his card and reached to take the pot from the centre of the table as everyone swore and threw down their own cards.

"Yeah she does. Really fucking well too."

Lisanna blushed as Bickslow held a hand up for a high five, waiting for anyone to congratulate him but instead Elfman leaned forward, slamming one of his hands over Bickslow's and the money on the table.

"Firstly," he growled, "Don't ever speak of my little sister like that. It isn't manly to hear about her doing things to you." Bickslow just laughed, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

"Secondly, you're a fucking cheat." Bickslow stopped laughing, narrowing his eyes behind his visor. Smirking up at the takeover mage he pulled his arms free and crossed them over his chest.

"Oh yeah, big man? How d'ya figure that out?"

With a yell, Elfman shoved his chair back, his bulk slamming the table and disrupting the cards and tokens as he lurched to grab the front of Bickslow's shirt. Freed and Evergreen let out sighs simultaneously, leaning back away from the table. Lisanna on the other hand stepped next to Bickslow, yelling for her brother to stop.

"That pillar just laughed! I know you put a soul in there!" The Takeover Mage lifted his fist to throw a punch at the Sieth's face, but his motions were halted by a shoulder slamming into his chest. Faster than anyone saw, Laxus got behind him, a muscled arm wrapped around his neck, Elfman's hands trying frantically to free himself. After a very short amount of time, the Strauss brother stopped struggling, realizing that he didn't have a chance without a beast taking over, and even he didn't want it to go that far.

"Of course he cheats. Everyone knows that."

Laxus looked over at the Sieth, Bickslow having resumed his laughter. Freed had begun to straighten the table again, and Evergreen was simply sat fanning herself. Laxus growled low in his throat, fighting back the dragon inside of him as he saw that his people were okay. Sure, he'd unofficially adopted the Strauss siblings, but the Thunder Legion would still always come first.

* * *

"I just don't understand, surely you could just freeze her, knock her over and then boom. She's done."

Natsu mimed the actions with his arms, standing up from his chair while Gray scoffed and relaxed back into his.

"Apart from she can superheat herself so I can't freeze her, but do carry on trying to educate me on my own magic. Surely you could just evaporate her into nothing?"

Juvia twisted her fingers in her lap, staring at them as a blush spread over her cheeks.

"Juvia doesn't think she would like either of those things…"

Lucy sat down next to Wendy, looking at the little Dragon Slayer as she placed her bag on the floor.

"Hi! Sorry I'm late, I had to go pay my rent. What are those two up to now?"

Wendy smiled, taking a sip out of her tea as she greeted the older girl.

"They're arguing about who could beat Juvia easier."

Lucy grimaced, looking at the two men. This could go one of two ways. Natsu could try challenging Juvia to a fight, or it could devolve into a full guild brawl and it was too early for either of those outcomes.

"Not that I'm all that surprised, but how did the topic come up?" The small bluenette just shook her head, laughing nervously.

"I don't even know, really. I came up in the middle of it as well."

"Yer both idiots. Juvia could utterly destroy you both without any effort." Their argument was interrupted by the Iron Dragon Slayer walking up, Levy in his shadow. "She's too fuckin' nice to do shit to the Popsicle, but Flamebrain, she could destroy you with a thought."

Juvia's blush darkened, opening her mouth to protest his praise until he made the comment about Gray.

"Juvia does not wish to fight either of her friends, Gajeel-kun. She would not wish to harm any member of Fairy Tail. They are her family." Gajeel just chuckled and messed with her hat, pushing it down over Juvia's eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Yer not denyin' what I said though." He dropped onto the bench next to Juvia, Levy leaning against his arm as everyone else laughed. Natsu crossed his arms, looking away for a moment before snapping his gaze back to Gajeel.

"Bet she could beat you too, Rust Bucket!" He dropped his hands in front of him, balling them into fists as he smirked and stepped forward. "And if I beat you, that means I'm as strong as her! Fight me, Metalface!" Levy groaned, stepping away quickly as she knew her Dragon Slayer was about to be engrossed in a fight. She walked around the table to sit on it next to Lucy and Wendy.

"Why does it always end in a fight?" The blonde leaned against her smaller friend, amusement dancing in her eyes. Gray scoffed and walked some ways away, not wanting to be dragged into a fight between the two Dragon Slayers.

"If you two calmed down and actually listened you'd learn you might be able to test that out."

Erza walked between the two Dragon Slayers, pushing them apart as she headed to the front of the hall with the rest of the S Class Wizards. Mirajane had collared Laxus, and he was sulking as he followed her and stood at the back of the stage. The Master stood at the front, coughing to get everyone's attention.

"Fairy Tail! Listen up! I have an announcement to make!"

The entire guild hushed down, all turning to look at the guild master in curiosity.

"After the loss of Mystogan, we are down an S Class Wizard, and the number of S Class only jobs are increasing faster than we can keep up with. For that reason we will be holding the new S Class trials next week."

The guildhall erupted in excitement, everyone clamouring and wondering who would be chosen. Makarov raised his voice, continuing his speech.

"Because of the need for more S Class and the high caliber of wizards we have there will be more nominations this year than ever before. Therefore you will all partner up with another nominee, and more than one wizard will be promoted."

If the roar was loud before now it was deafening, people raising from their seats as they shouted their feelings towards the stage.

"The current S Class Wizards and I have deliberated long and hard." Laxus scoffed, but his grandfather ignored him. "And we are pleased to announce the following candidates for promotion. The first, Bickslow!"

Everyone cheered, clapping at the first revelation and Lisanna turned to congratulate him only to be met by a grim face. She reached out to touch his arm, but he shook it away to stand up and storm upstairs into the Master's office, totems following behind him in a line. Lisanna was going to go after him but Freed grabbed her arm and the Master moved onto the next candidate.

"Evergreen!"

Evergreen set her jaw firmly as cheers erupted around her, and she clenched her fists in her lap. Elfman was still looking hopefully at the Master, and it was only Freed who nodded at her in congratulation.

"Pantherlily!"

Levy squealed in excitement, snatching up the exceed and hugging him close. Lily just nodded, trying to cross his arms over the top of Levy's. He would thank the Master for nominating him later.

"Cana Alberona!"

The card mage didn't even look up from the beer she was drinking, ignoring the clap across the back she had gotten from Macao. She had sent Bacchus back to his own guild as soon as she realised how long Gildarts was going to be staying around. Maybe she would go and visit Quattro Cerberus as soon as she failed yet another promotion trial.

"Natsu Dragneel"

The Dragon Slayer whooped in excitement, punching the air above him as he jumped out of his chair. Happy started to fly around, joining in his own partner's excitement before realising that he wasn't going to be able to be on the same team with Natsu this year and went to go and sulk on one of the guild's tables.

"Gray Fullbuster!"

Juvia's screams of elation drowned out anyone else's, and she threw her arms around Gray, who didn't even bother trying to shy away from her as she crushed his ribs in her embrace.

"Lucy Heartfilia!"

Lucy's mouth hung open, she would never in a million years have expected to be nominated, but as Juvia let up her assault on Gray and instead turned around to hug her other teammate she was brought out of her daze and hugged her back.

"Freed Justine!"

Freed nodded, adjusting his clothes as he did to make sure he was looking his best. He hadn't been expecting the nomination per se but it was an honour to be considered again. Maybe this time he would be able to win. He immediately started to form strategies in his head, already thinking of ways to defeat his fellow nominees.

"Juvia Lockser!"

Juvia paused in her embrace with Lucy, before breaking away and turning back to Gray again.

"Gray-sama will be Juvia's partner, won't he?"

Gray sighed, knowing it was coming because of course Juvia would be nominated again. She was one of the strongest mages he knew.

"Of course, who else would I team up with? Flame Brain?"

Juvia squealed again, and Gray reached over to pull her onto his lap. If anyone asked he would always say it was just to shut her up, but in secret he enjoyed it too.

"Wendy Marvell!"

Wendy jumped in her chair in excitement, clapping her hands before Carla turned around to glare at her. It was unbecoming of a lady to show excitement in such a fashion. Carla would never admit that, just like Happy, she wasn't pleased knowing that she wouldn't be able to join her partner's side. Maybe she could sneak onto the island like the last time?

"Levy McGarden!"

Gajeel clapped the script mage on the back while Jet and Droy whooped enthusiastically. Levy just smiled, hugging Lily tighter and beginning to form her own strategies.

"Gajeel Redfox!"

Levy squealed, turning around to pull Gajeel into a hug and crushing Lily in between them. The exceed sighed heavily before enjoying as his two humans celebrated all three achievements. At least it would be fun until the two of them realised that they would probably be fighting against each other at some point.

"Elfman Strauss!"

Elfman yelled in happiness, one arm grabbing Lisanna and the other grabbing Evergreen and pulling the two women into his chest. Both of them struggled for a moment, before looking at each other as they both accepted their fate.

"And finally - Lisanna Strauss!"

Elfman's embrace only intensified at the last comment, but Lisanna simply looked up to the Master's office, wondering what Bickslow was doing behind the closed door.

The Master clapped his hands, trying to get the attention of everyone in the guildhall back, but it wasn't until Mirajane made her way to the front of the stage and yelled that anyone bothered paying attention. Makarov thanked her, and took his opportunity before it was too loud for anyone to hear him again.

"Everyone can pick a partner from within the nominations, and we meet at the docks to head to Tenrou Island in exactly a week. Good luck!"

* * *

 **A/N - Woo, first chapter of my collaboration with Muddyevil! We are writing the chapters between us, so go and check her out if you haven't already.**

 **Please let us know what you think about the idea/the fic/any theories you may have about what may happen. We both completely love reading reviews!**

 **Huge thanks also to kmmcm for blind testing this for us, go and check out her art like straight away.**


	2. Chapter 2

"You fucking know that I can't do this!"

Lisanna was just about able to hear Bickslow's shouting over the ruckus of the guild below her as she pressed her ear against the door of the Master's office.

"You were fine taking part in the trials last year, why are you kicking off now?"

A loud crash against the door forced Lisanna away from the wood and she imagined that something had been slammed into it as Bickslow's voice came through even louder.

"I wasn't up for S-Class last year! I was just helping Freed!"

She could hear the babies start to anger in the room behind the door, shouting their own nonsense words as Bickslow began to lose control.

"Why are you so scared, Bickslow. You are plenty strong enough to compete in the tri…"

"I STEAL PEOPLE'S SOULS!"

Another loud crash, and Lisanna winced as she heard the cracking of wood followed by a gasp, and soon after the Master's voice came calmly through the door.

"Really? I didn't know."

The roar that came then was pure rage, and the loudest crash yet followed by the pattering of smaller objects falling to the floor. Lisanna wondered what it was.

"This isn't FUNNY! I can kill people by accident! That power should not be in the hands of someone who has any sort of responsibility!"

There was silence for a moment, and Lisanna wished she could see, wished she could help.

"I agree with you, somewhat. Your magic is incredibly dangerous. And for years you've controlled it, that takes a lot of strength. You've looked after yourself, and all five of your babies and kept them safe. Ask them if they think you're worthy. Ask Lisanna. Of course if you make S Class the honour extends to these little guys too"

The small sobs that escaped the room tore into Lisanna's heart and she clasped her hands to stop her from storming in there and helping.

"What if I told you a secret?"

The Master's voice was quiet, comforting as if he was talking to a child. Lisanna heard a growl, echoed five times throughout the room.

"This is no time for your stupid games."

Lisanna nearly fell over as the door opened beside her. Catching her balance she looked up at the Master where he stood, one hand still resting on the door handle. His desk was split in two, a bookshelf had been thrown across the room as the books sprawled across the floor and Bickslow was sat on one of the windowsills, hands tugging at his hood in frustration as his babies came to greet her.

"You may as well come on in, Lisanna. He won't keep it a secret from you anyway."

* * *

"Lucy is going to be pretty easy. My babies can take away her keys, then we just need to worry about Loke. Good, now turn around and go back. And you know what Loke's like, all you need to do is start stripping and then…"

"Bickslow!"

She had to keep moving, balancing on the thin pole that spanned across two trees. This was the longest she had ever tried to do this before, and Bickslow wasn't even letting her use her takeovers to balance better. The man himself was perched on a vertical pole almost effortlessly and Lisanna was tempted to just throw something at him.

"Anyway, what about Natsu? He can wipe out your totems in one go."

Bickslow shrugged as his totems all started to shriek and whiz around, already getting nervous.

"That's why I'm staying the fuck away and you can deal with him."

Lisanna stopped, and instantly regretted it when she lost her balance and had to jump to the floor. She looked up at the Sieth as he tutted disapprovingly.

"What on Earthland makes you think I can deal with Natsu?"

Bickslow shrugged, jumping off his pole and executing a perfect flip before landing in front of her and placing a kiss to her forehead. She squirmed away, knowing perfectly well how sweaty she already was.

"I dunno, cause he likes you? Gotta admit I didn't really think that one through but hey we have time. Now come on, you're going through the course again."

Lisanna cursed. Bickslow's obstacle course was set up for him to find it a challenge, so Lisanna found it near impossible without switching into another soul. Taking a deep breath she sprinted towards the start of the course, throwing her arms out for balance as she hopped across the poles that stuck out of the ground. She had fallen into the mud below enough times to know that it was definitely not something she ever wanted to do again. She jumped higher off the last pole, grabbing hold of a bar above her as she swung across the monkey bars before pulling herself up to run across the pole spanning them and the next obstacle.

There wasn't even a break before she had to jump between two walls, kicking off each side before bounding off the other almost instantly. She was about halfway up when her momentum stalled, and she was left with one foot on either wall, her groin stretching uncomfortably between them. It was too far to fall down safely, and she had lost all momentum to go up so she just stayed there awkwardly. She started to transform, but Bickslow simply tutted from below.

"Why, Bickslow? Why can't I use magic!?"

She couldn't see him, but she just knew he would be crossing his arms and rolling his eyes at her.

"You said yourself, we can't be too reliant on it. We are up against at least two people who can wipe out our magic. I'm just holding you to your own rules."

Lisanna whined, her feet were starting to slip and if she wasn't too careful she was going to seriously injured herself. Trust this to be the one time Bickslow stuck to rules.

"Please, Bickslow…"

Lisanna breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the thudding of feet on the walls either side of her, and felt the vibrations shake up her legs. Their eyes only met for the briefest of seconds as he passed her, but it was enough. The ache in her muscles started to melt as she waited for him to get to the top and perch on the summit of one of the walls.

Seconds later her right leg bent without her permission, and with a strength she didn't know she had powered her into the left wall. It took five or six bounces to make it to the top, and when she did Bickslow guided her to his lap as he balanced on the edge of the wall and looked out over the trees. His totems flew behind him, propping up his back so he didn't fall and Lisanna relaxed as he finally released control of her.

"Thank you."

She felt him press a kiss against the shell of her ear before looking off over the tops of the trees to where she could see the Cathedral on the horizon. She sighed slightly, leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

"What if I can't do this, Bickslow?"

She heard him hum questioningly, swinging his legs underneath her as he tightened his grip around her waist.

"Look at all the nominations, I am by far the weakest."

They sat in silence for a second, and she knew that he was thinking. The babies all begun to chatter amongst themselves the way that they did when his concentration drifted to somewhere else.

"Yup. You're right. You are. If you were on your own or with someone else you'd be fucked."

Lisanna froze. She hadn't been looking for compliments, but she thought he would at least say something nice about her. Anything but that. He didn't even seem to notice, before he launched into his next sentence.

"But you've got me, Kitten. No one else's souls gel like ours do, we're hands down the best team! Plus, we've got the element of surprise on on our side. No one else stands a chance."

Lisanna giggled, turning her head so she could place a short kiss on his lips but he grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in deeper. She kissed him for a moment, before breaking apart to look into his eyes.

"But what if we go out in the first round, Bicks?"

The Sieth shrugged, turning her back around by her shoulders as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Then we have a free day to fuck around on Tenrou…" He paused for a moment, and Lisanna could practically hear the cogs turning in his head. "Hey! We could totally…"

"Bickslow." Lisanna interrupted him as soon as she cottoned onto his train of thought. "We are not throwing a fight just so we can fuck in various places on Tenrou. You know very well everyone else is going to be running all over the island."

Bickslow reached up, running his fingertips over her jaw as they made their way to tangle gently in her hair.

"They'll be busy, though. We could…"

"No." Lisanna couldn't bring herself to shake him away, she loved the feeling that it gave her too much.

"You know for a fact that Laxus would electrocute us just for the fun of it if he found us."

Bickslow wrapped his ankles around hers, encompassing her more completely as he kissed the back of her neck.

"Apparently that can be quite pleasurable, though."

Lisanna shook her head, but Bickslow kept his mouth clamped onto her skin.

"No."

Bickslow sighed, resting his forehead against her shoulder for a second before hugging her closer.

"Well then, we'll just need to get through on the first try then, right babe?"

Lisanna giggled, grabbing a hold of his arms and rubbing circles on his forearms. She smiled, relaxing back into his embrace more fully.

"Well, there's always the fact that…"

Before she could finish her sentence Bickslow threw himself backwards, bringing Lisanna with him as they both started tumbling through the air. She screamed as she started to transform her arms into wings, flapping them desperately to slow their descent until they tumbled onto the floor with only the smallest of force. Bickslow laughed maniacally as he pulled her further on top of him, and the babies all spun around in excitement.

"Bickslow!"

She spun in his grasp, straddling his thighs as he grabbed onto her hips and let his tongue loll out of his mouth.

"What? You said we had to practice, and that was good practice right? Anyway, we're not going home until you've completed that obstacle course. Your orders, babe."

* * *

"What about Gajeel and Levy? What are we going to do if we come up against them?"

She dodged the fist that came at the side of her head, ducking down before trying to sweep her leg around to take out his legs from underneath him. Bickslow jumped, and her leg swung harmlessly past him. He was wearing sweats and a tank top that showed off his muscles brilliantly under his normal mask while she was wearing just a sports bra and running shorts.

"Why don't you try stripping? That would distract him."

Lisanna growled, lunging forward to grab at him but he simply flipped over her and landed behind her before driving an elbow into her back. Bickslow was fast, but he also had the power to back it up and Lisanna always felt woefully inept when she trained with him. She righted herself again, spinning around to face him.

"That isn't going to work, Bickslow, and you know it. Plus, what about Levy? She's just as formidable an opponent."

Bickslow shrugged, as his totems whirled around the both of them giggling excitedly. Lisanna planted her feet, throwing a punch at Bickslow who just grabbed it out of the air and made her swear in annoyance. The Sieth smirked down at her, grabbing her wrist and pulling it up into the air. She swung with her free hand, but he grabbed that as well and left her almost defenceless.

"Why don't we just… throw them in the sea?"

Lisanna sighed, trying to struggle free of Bickslow's grip before he tugged on her arms, forcing her to stumble into him and wrapping his own arms around her back as he fell backwards, a cloud of dust erupting from the ground as he smashed into the dirt. Lisanna shrieked as she fell on top of him, before he turned them both over and pinned her to the ground underneath him. Lisanna looked up into his mask, sighing as she rested her head on the ground. She had to admit the brief rest it gave her was wondrous. Pulling her head up she kissed him gently on his lips, and he returned the favour in kind. After a few minutes he pulled away, and Lisanna was left breathless.

"Bickslow… why aren't you going to use your eyes?"

The Sieth sighed, smile fading as he rolled off her and threw his arms to the side, allowing his babies to rest on the floor around him. When he spoke his voice was weak, more like a child than the man she had gotten to know.

"You don't think I'm strong enough without them."

Lisanna shook her head, rolling over so she could prop herself up on one elbow and look down at him.

"You know I don't mean it like that. But your eyes are a part of your magic, something that makes you you. I'm not saying take everyone over, but just don't be scared to take over one or two in a bind. If you take over Gajeel we could take down Levy together before focusing on him."

Bickslow groaned, throwing an arm over his face so he didn't have to look at her.

"Because as soon as I take someone over they call it cheating. I need to prove to everyone I can do this _without_ relying on my eyes."

He sighed, and they spent a few seconds in silence before he took a deep breath and pushed himself to his feet, turning around to offer her a hand up.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't…"

Lisanna shook her head, dusting off her clothes as she stood up.

"Don't worry about it, I shouldn't have asked."

Bickslow smiled down at her, before she snapped her fist forward, connecting with his abs and making him huff in pain. He groaned, narrowing his eyes as he glared at her. Oh. It was on.

* * *

"Well, what if we come up against Laxus?"

Lisanna was relaxing on the sofa in his apartment, legs thrown up onto it despite knowing that Freed would bitch about it as she balanced a pad of paper on her lap. She was tapping a bright pink pen against her chin, glasses perched on her nose as the room was filled with the green glow of Bickslow's magic.

"Well, it's Laxus, so you could…"

"If you say strip I swear I will walk out of this fucking door."

Bickslow groaned, sweat starting to roll down his forehead as he concentrated. Ten totems were floating around him, his standard five floating around like normal as the other five made stalling movements up, down, left and right. His arms were thrown out to the side, eye magic going insane as his concentration lay somewhere else.

"Well, I don't do fucking planning, alright? Have you not figured that out yet Lisanna?"

Lisanna looked up at him as his effort failed, and five wooden souls fell empty onto the floor as she felt the souls he had taken from her fly back into her body.

"I can't fucking do this. They won't fucking listen to me."

He flopped to the floor like a rag doll, chest heaving in exhaustion. Lisanna stood up from the sofa, keeping her glasses on for an added sense of security as she knelt next to him and started to comb her fingers through his hair.

"I told you, they're not only animal souls but they're incomplete. The fact you can control them at all is amazing."

Bickslow threw both of his arms over his eyes as he groaned loudly, not sure he even wanted to do this anymore. Lisanna lay down next to him, snuggling up to his side and resting her head on his collarbone.

"I have an idea. I don't know how well it will work, but it might do. Other than that, we can just wing it and see what happens. What do you think?"

Bickslow nodded, turning onto his side and gathering her up in his arms. He kissed the top of her head and Lisanna nuzzled into his chest.

"Good. Tomorrow morning we're going off on an adventure, so let's get an early night, yeah?"

* * *

 _ **A/N -**_ **We have had a lot of people letting us know that Lisanna shouldn't have been chosen to take part, hopefully this assuages some of those fears and gives a little background as to why she is in there!**

 **Thank you so much everyone for your reviews! We definitely don't discuss them while squealing in excitement.**

 **Just a reminder, this is a collab with Muddyevil. She's uploading the story on her page too (there isn't a collaboration option for publishing -.- ) and you should definitely check out her other works!**


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as Lisanna went to find Bickslow Elfman spun to the side, grabbing Evergreen's hands into his. He was about to express just how excited he was that they had just been nominated, together this time, when he noticed tears brimming in her eyes. It was something that he had been seeing frequently lately, but never in public like this.

"Ever?"

She took a deep, shuddering breath and moments later she had stood up and started to head out of the guild. Elfman stood to follow her, shrugging off Freed's hand as he tried to stop him and slamming through the doors. As soon as she had gotten out of everyone's line of sight she had started running, tears streaming behind her and Elfman had to speed up to finally place a hand on her shoulder and get her to stop.

"Evergreen. Talk to me. Please."

She hadn't turned around, hiding her face in her hands as she sobbed. Elfman pulled her close, snaking his arms around her waist as he hugged her from behind.

"What's the matter? We both got picked, didn't we? We'll get to training and…"

"No! We won't!"

Evergreen span around in his arms, trying to shrug him off but he wouldn't let her. She beat at his chest, growling as she spoke.

"Because I'm not partnering with you."

Elfman dropped his hands at that, staring down at her as he did. They stood in silence for a second, Evergreen wiping her tears on her hands and adjusting her glasses to keep her magic in check.

"What do you mean, Ever? Who are you partnering with?"

She shrugged, crossing her arms in front of her chest, refusing to look at him at all.

"I don't fucking know. But I don't want to hold you back."

Elfman looked at her, eyes softening and not knowing what to say. Evergreen looked up at him, hating the silence and the fact he hadn't shouted at her, hadn't agreed or done anything.

"I'm not strong enough for this, Elfman. You're the strongest of anyone in there and I don't want to drag you down with me."

Elfman lunged forward, pulling her into a crushing hug and making her jump in surprise as he buried his face in her hair. She waved her arms to try and retain her balance, before giving up and falling into his arms, raising hers to wrap around his back. There was no one around, it wouldn't hurt to show him a little affection. When he spoke it was muffled in her scalp, but she still heard it perfectly.

"Obviously someone thinks you're strong enough. And so do I. What do you say, Tink? We go train, and we kick some major arse next week. And no matter whether we win or lose we do it together, yeah? There's always next year."

Evergreen nodded, sniffling slightly as she finally buried her head in his chest. She never said it out loud, or even thought it often, but she really had chosen a decent guy for once.

Elfman was simply letting her hit him, none of the punches or kicks that connected doing much damage. She was taking breaks as and when she needed them, hands resting on her knees as she panted to get her breath back. Her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, and she was sweating despite the tank top and shorts she was wearing. Elfman threw her a bottle of water, smiling as she caught it and started to drink.

"Don't you need to do at least some training, Elf?"

He sat on the floor, leaning back onto his hands as he stared up into the sky and shook his head.

"Nah, we'll focus on you. You're so close to being back up to the strength you were before, if we could just train a little more…"

His sentence trailed off as she narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't anywhere close to the strength she was before Lin and they both knew it. They had struggled to pass the first round of the trials last year, and something told her they weren't going to get as lucky again this year. They both sat in silence for a moment, Ever trying to sip the water so she didn't make herself sick and Elfman just watching her. Once she had finished he stood to his feet, holding out a hand to pull her back into the fight.

"Come on, let's work on your magic again. Give me a second to get into Lizardman and give me all you've got."

Laxus huffed as he watched from the sidelines of the clearing Elfman and Evergreen had claimed as a training arena. This wasn't going to do at all. What had the old man been thinking when he nominated Evergreen? Sure he had suggested it, but _this_ was the year the stubborn git actually listened? She wasn't anywhere near strong enough to make S Class this year, and it was just going to knock her confidence back. And this idiot wasn't helping any either.

Cracking his neck he allowed the electricity to flow through his body, each cell turning into lightning as he shot forward. Elfman could survive it plenty. He braced himself as he slammed into the other man, knowing that his Lizard man form was wickedly tough. Evergreen screamed as he flew the both of them into the air, and shouted down to her to assuage her fears.

"Don't worry, I'm just borrowing him a moment. I'll bring him back."

Evergreen crossed her arms over her chest, storming off to sit back down on an old tree stump. There was nothing she could do at this point, anyway.

Laxus flew a couple hundred meters away, far enough that she couldn't overhear what they were saying but close enough that he could still keep an ear out for if she got into any difficulties. Elfman struggled the whole way, but not even he could compete with Laxus in his lightning body. The Dragon Slayer toyed with dropping him from above the treeline, but decided the flack he would get from Evergreen wasn't worth it. Shooting down to the floor he landed next to a tree, struggling to stop the electricity in him from arcing to the sap inside, before becoming corporeal again and relaxing back to lean against the bark. Elfman growled, magic covering him before he appeared back in his human form.

"What the fuck are you doing, Laxus?"

The Dragon Slayer didn't even give him the courtesy of looking him in the eye as he started to inspect his nails.

"Well what the fuck are you doing, Elfman?"

The Strauss brother threw his arms in the air, already fed up with this conversation. The relationship he had with Laxus was strained at best, someone who he put up with for the sake of Evergreen and not much else. Looking back he couldn't even remember the last time the two men spoke that wasn't just out of politeness or buffered by either of their respective families.

"I'm training Evergreen, what the fuck does it look like?"

Laxus scoffed, pushing away from the trunk he was leaning against and heading towards the younger man.

"It looks like you're mollycoddling her."

Elfman growled, crossing his arms as he stared down at the Dragon Slayer in anger.

"No, we're going at her own pace…"

"Her own pace isn't fast enough!"

Laxus started off shouting, before remembering just how close Evergreen was and lowered the volume before she heard what the two men were saying.

"You have a week to get her up to her previous strength, if not stronger. If you forgot I've known Evergreen since she was a child, and she pretends I can't but I can read her like a book. Right now she's feeling sorry for herself and isn't going to push herself so you are going to have to push her."

He accentuated his last point by poking the takeover mage in the middle of his chest, ignoring the scowl it got him.

"I don't want to push her too far and hurt her."

Laxus sneered, turning away to head back towards the clearing where he could hear Evergreen was starting to get impatient.

"Evergreen is used to being the only girl in a team full of men, and strong men at that. Think about it like this. Once all this is over and you've failed, because if you carry on like this you will fail, she will look back and realise just how much you babied her and blame you for the failure. She'll never forgive you. Now come on. The two of you are training against me for the rest of the day."

Elfman harrumphed, stomping after the Dragon Slayer before throwing out his arm to stop him.

"Why are you helping us, Laxus?"

The man stopped in his tracks, sighing before looking down at his feet. He stood in silence for a few seconds, before he spoke almost softly.

"Because you're not the only one who loves her, Elfman. Evergreen is like a little sister to me, and it fucking hurts to see her so weak when she once went up against Erza without even blinking."

Elfman stopped as well. He would be the first to admit he sometimes got jealous at the ties that the Raijinshuu all had. Sure, he had those bonds with his sisters and the whole of Fairy Tail was a family to him but he knew that he would never have friends like the four of them.

"Should you be doing this? Isn't it an unfair advantage?"

Laxus shrugged, starting back towards the arena now the silence had been broken.

"This whole thing is unfair, anyway. No one had to go through the same recovery process as she did. She lost her fucking sight. I'm just trying to level the playing field. Probably is best not to tell anyone else, though."

Evergreen jumped to the side and rolled as a bolt of lightning headed straight towards her, Elfman grunting as he took it to the chest. They had been training for hours now, and she had been starting to slow. Whereas Elfman had been kind to her throughout their training Laxus had no such qualms, and she rested her hands on her knees as she tried her hardest to recover in the short amount of time she had been given. Laxus had run forward to grapple with Elfman, but when he saw her panting at the side he let go and screamed.

"No, Evergreen, No! That was your opportunity right fucking there! While Elfman had me and my back was turned you should have hit me with everything you had. It won't help you when you're up against another team but if you're against one of the S Class it will be invaluable."

Evergreen huffed, building up her magic as her wings unfurled and she took to the air. This way she had the higher ground, and her time in the Raijinshuu told her that was always an advantage in a fight. Of course, they were normally not fighting against Laxus going all out.

She felt the electricity crackle through the air before the attack hit, and screamed as the lightning coursed through her and she fell to the ground. Elfman growled slightly, but if she had expected any kind of sympathy from Laxus she was sorely disappointed.

"If I was Mira you would be dead right now. And don't you think for a second she's going to fall for the same stupid trick again."

Evergreen groaned as she tried to raise her head, before giving up and crashing it back down onto the floor.

"What if I just start crying? Do you think that would work?"

Laxus started laughing, realising that Evergreen actually did need a break now and turned his attention to Elfman. He was back in his Lizard Man form, so all of Laxus' attacks needed to be from range unless he wanted to be injured himself. Letting loose one of his roars he watched Elfman brace himself, before using the moment's respite to turn and look at the woman on the floor.

"Evergreen, I have seen you use the fact you're a woman to your advantage many times, but I have never thought you'd reduce yourself to crying."

Evergreen smiled, mustering just enough energy to turn onto her side to watch the two men. Elfman recovered from the shot, roaring as he ran forward, trying to throw a punch before Laxus caught his fist in his, twisting his arm around until it was pinned behind his back. Elfman grunted from the pain, shoving his one elbow backwards into Laxus' abdomen and making the Dragon Slayer let go. He cracked his knuckles a few times, stretching as the blonde man recovered himself.

"What if I start crying? Reckon that would stop Mira?"

Laxus paused for a second, before he started laughing again. Standing up to his full height again he stretched out his arms, wanting to tease the man in front of him a little more before he attacked.

"Yes, Elfman, because that would be so manly."

Elfman growled deep in his throat, but Evergreen tapped her chin as she finally felt ready enough to pull herself up to sit down with her legs crossed.

"You know, that might actually work. I can see her stopping just long enough for us to get a few decent hits in… Lisanna too."

Laxus sighed. He really shouldn't be annoyed that they were actually planning, but this was just stupid.


	4. Chapter 4

Cana was still drinking when the guild quieted down. She had a feeling she would still be drinking for a while. She should have known this was coming, after she didn't bother going through with her threat when she failed the last test. If you looked at it logically, she didn't actually fail last year. So this would be the fifth failure. Did she really want to leave the guild still? Would she abandon her family when she ultimately failed again?

She raised her hand to request another drink, before it was slapped down on top of the bar with such force her empty glass bounced. Whoever it was had better be glad her father had already fucked off to find someone to warm his bed tonight otherwise they'd be dead.

Slowly turning to the side the image of green hair and a red coat filled her vision and she almost laughed. Of course. Only four of the nominations wasn't dating another, and she couldn't see Pantherlily _or_ Wendy willingly partnering with her and she guessed that left her with Freed. And he didn't look too happy.

"Snap out of it, Alberona. I'm stuck with you and there is no fucking way you are going to ruin my chances by sitting here sulking."

Cana laughed, spinning in her stool to look him in the eye. He was perfectly dressed, as always, hand resting lightly on the pommel of his sword as he stopped her from ordering any more alcohol.

"Gee, thanks Justine. What a motivational speech. Glad to know I'm such a desired partner."

Freed leaned forward, caging her in with his arms as he towered over her uncomfortably close. His competitiveness and need to win this year had overtaken his upbringing, and he didn't care that he wasn't being polite right now.

"You think I chose you just because you're the last option? I could make anyone switch to my team if I wanted them. I can be very persuasive. But you're the strongest option."

Cana sneered. Freed was good, she would give him that, but he still couldn't get anything past her. She refused to be intimidated, leaning forward until their noses touched and she could feel his breath dancing across her lips as she spoke.

"That's a lie, Freed, and you know it."

Freed smirked, finally pulling away as his intimidating facade fell and he crossed his arms.

"Maybe. Better motivational speech though, right?"

Cana snorted, turning back around to the bar and throwing one leg over the other before leaning her elbow on the wood.

"Yeah, I guess. Would have worked a hell of a lot better if you'd let me get more drunk first, though."

Freed rested against the bar, looking around the guildhall. All of the other teams had already left, and he ground his teeth at the fact they were already lagging behind. Grabbing hold of her arm he tugged her away, heading towards his apartment. He knew that all of the decent training areas would be taken already, but they may as well start off with some tactical planning.

"Oh no, you're going sober."

Cana groaned loudly, starting to drag her feet, making Freed curse. It appeared he was partnered with a five year old.

"But I'm useless sober! You don't want me to be useless do you Freed?"

Freed tutted, debating using runes to drag her behind him but not wanting to waste too much magical power on this.

"No, you're not. You're not Bacchus, alcohol isn't needed for your magic. Come on. We have planning to do."

Freed looked up from his notes, watching Cana tap her chin as she worked her magic with her cards. The alcohol she had been drinking appeared to have worn off already, but that's not what was bothering him.

"Surely there are far too many variables to discern any useful information from that yet."

Cana lay down a card, not looking up at him as she pondered over them intently.

"And I'm not sure lecturing me about my own magic is going to be any of use to us either, Justine."

Freed sighed, standing up from his chair to go and look over her shoulder but it was useless. He couldn't understand a thing.

"Okay then, Miss Fortune Teller. What are the cards telling you?"

Cana sighed, leaning back and resting her weight on her hands behind her.

"Well, I know that Evergreen and Elfman are going to go against Lily and Wendy…"

Freed rolled his eyes, although she couldn't see it.

"How the fuck is that helpful to US?"

Cana shrugged, collecting her cards in a pile again before sitting up more completely.

"Maybe it means we don't have to fight them? Although I can't tell who wins or when it happens. They could have already knocked us out for all I know. How about you, brainiac?"

Freed sighed, returning to his notes as he glanced over at the card mage.

"Well, your cards take care of a lot of the elemental mages, the only one I'm really struggling with is Juvia. Fire wouldn't work, she just puts it out."

Cana pondered for a second. She knew Juvia better than Freed, she would be better suited to finding her weaknesses.

"We know Juvia is susceptible to Lightning, remember that time with the Thunder Palace and the body link spell and we had… to escape… your trap..."

Cana's words trailed off as she saw Freed's jaw clench, and she suddenly remembered what she was saying.

"Fuck. Sorry."

Freed smiled, but it was obvious it wasn't at all genuine.

"That's okay. It's my past, you don't need to apologise. Now tell me, can those cards go backwards too?"

Cana looked at him in confusion, starting to unpack her cards again.

"Do you mean can I read the past? Yeah, sure, but I'm not sure why that would help."

Freed smiled again, and this time she knew it was real.

"It means we can get past fights, get statistics. Who's beaten who and how many times. This will be a war won with data, and we dominate that field."

Cana nodded, holding her cards in her hand and opening the magic flow between them and her.

"Okay, who do I start with?"

Freed tapped his chin with his finger. He already knew about all of Laxus' fights, and Evergreen's, and Bickslow's apart from one…

"Lucy. She's stronger than she looks and I'll bet she's using that to her advantage. She will be expecting people to focus on Natsu and then sneak attack them. We'll start with her. Pull up as many fights as possible and we will see if it tells us anything."

Cana nodded, allowing her mind to fill with thoughts of the Celestial Spirit Mage. She shoved her mind away from the first place it went to, the women all having been at the spa together not too long ago.

The magic in her arms started pulsing as she shuffled her deck, before spreading them out on the table in front of her. Allowing her magic to guide her she hovered her hands over the cards, picking out three and turning them onto the table in front of her. She studied them intently, before speaking up.

"The cards are telling me to look out for Unison Raids when it comes to Lucy. She's never succeeded in one with Natsu before, but there is nothing to say she wouldn't be able to figure one out in the next week."

Freed noted it down, pen scratching across paper superhumanly fast before he stopped and looked up at her again.

"Good. Tell me more."

Mira groaned as the bed shifted. Fuck, she must have fallen asleep as she was waiting for him. Freed had already changed into his pajamas completely silently, and was now trying to slip underneath the blankets of the bed just as sneakily. She pulled herself up onto her elbows, eyes adjusting magically to the dark as he winced and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry I woke you, honey. Go back to sleep."

She rubbed her eyes, not bothering to turn on the light before she scooted over to embrace him. She needed to speak to him anyway, and he had been waking up and sneaking out of the house before her for the last couple of days.

"What time is it?"

Freed closed his eyes, stretching his spine out before wrapping his arms around her waist. She tried not to notice the burns and bruises that had appeared across his skin.

"Half one. And I need to be up at four so I need to go to sleep kinda soon."

Mira sighed, moving her hand up to brush his hair out of his face. It had been tied back in a high ponytail every time she had seen him since they had announced the nominations for the trial, at least the few minutes that she had seen him.

"Can't we have a lie in tomorrow? I don't have to work."

Freed moaned, closing his eyes and trying to pull her down to lie next to him but she fought against him.

"You're also the strongest woman in the guild and thus don't need to bother training. We don't all have that luxury, Mira."

Mira scoffed, looking down at him and fighting back the temptation to slap him. She didn't do well being woken up at the best of times, and now he had the audacity to question her dedication? Sure she had taken a break but she had at least been trying to get back up to strength since Lisanna came back.

"You think I don't train? I've been through the trials, Freed. I know what it's like to want to break yourself for a chance to get the title. But the rate you're going? You're going to kill yourselves before you even get to the docks."

Freed rolled away, letting go of her as he turned his back and cross his arms.

"Gee. Thanks for the vote of confidence, babe."

Mira huffed, sitting up completely as she stared over at him in disbelief. This wasn't like him, maybe the training was taking more out of him than she thought.

"You know what I'm saying, Freed. You've had what, nine hours of sleep during the last three days? You're going to be a zombie by the time we get there."

Freed sat up, voice suddenly raising as a fire began to burn behind his eyes. Mira stared him down, the demon inside her stirring as it responded to his.

"I have a plan! We're doing the training logically, balancing physical and mental training."

Mira sneered, her voice lowering as her demon started to anger. She was tired, she was worried and all Freed was doing was making everything so much worse.

"And how is that working out with Cana, eh? How is her chaos falling into your plans?"

Freed swung his legs out of the bed, turning around to stare at Mira as she tried to ignore his right eye had darkened, not protected by his hair now it was pulled back.

"Chaos? Cana is actually a fantastic planner, if you give her a chance. She's strong and fierce, and smart about her magic."

Mira's demon forced her to stand. She didn't want to be below Freed, and her transformation magic started to make her larger as she struggled to keep the Satan's Soul down.

"If she's so fantastic why aren't you still with her then?"

Freed froze. It was a sore subject. They both had histories, questionable histories, but he thought she trusted him. Did she not? Had he ever given her any indication that she wasn't the only one?

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer. And as for chaos, really, Mira? I'm on a team with Bickslow. Bickslow!"

Mira smiled. This was typical of Freed. Everything was Bickslow's fault with him. Freed never, _never_ took responsibility for anything. Her voice went deathly quiet, and she crossed her hands over her chest.

"You know what, Freed. You actually amaze me. I never would have thought you could have blamed Bickslow for _this_. Why don't you just own up and take responsibility that you're working yourself too hard? Or is that against your moral code? The leader of the Raijinshuu is not answerable to anyone!"

Freed growled, magic power starting to gather around him as his anger rose. Mira's body switched form without her even noticing, and her Satan's soul took over.

"I never take responsibility!? I took the entirety of the penance for the Raijinshuu's actions against Fairy Tail on my own shoulders."

Mira couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips, and Freed's expression darkened as he stared her down.

"You _cut your hair!?_ It grows back! It grew back within weeks. You were going to kill your own guild members and cutting your hair for a few days is penance?"

Freed narrowed his eyes as his magic built up around him, and his voice was dropped to barely a whisper.

"Get out."

Mira paused for a second. Sure they were angry, but was this what she really wanted? Freed screamed, his magic losing control and shooting forward as he swept his arm to the side.

"GET OUT!"

The wave of magic flew towards her, and her own sense of preservation kicked in as her souls switched and she brought up her arms to block it. The magic almost flowed across the armour of her Demon God Halphus form, and after it had dissipated she turned around and stormed out of the apartment without another word.

* * *

 _ **A/N - Just a quick note to say thank you to everyone for their reviews! Just an FYI, last week's chapter didn't send out an email notification(an issue with the site apparent;y) so you may have missed the last chapter (Elfgreen *squee!*).**_

 _ **Make sure you check out Muddyevil's other fics in this series because they're works of art.**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Gajeel, how are we going to practice my defenses for Bickslow? I really don't know anything about his magic except that it's an energy force. I mean, I think I can protect against being taken over, I'll just have my glasses handy, but the totem blasts, those I don't know much about."

The Dragon Slayer tilted his head to the side, considering her words as his hands continued shaping the objects he was going to be throwing at his tiny mate. They had come up with this plan together, and he was pretty proud of her for how seriously she was taking everything.

"Yeah, ya let me handle that one. He ain't so tough on the hand t'hand, ya know?"

Levy nodded, taking some mental notes as well as physical. She looked down at the ground for a moment before taking a deep breath, finally speaking something that had been on her mind since it was announced that she had been chosen.

"Neither am I, if we're being honest. Should we try some physical training, Gajeel? I don't want to hold you back by making you deal with pretty much everyone just because I'm not strong enough. When I'm about tapped for magic today… Can we work on to hand to hand?"

She closed her eyes, holding her breath for a moment as she heard him sigh. _Here we go. He's going to tell me no because he's afraid of hurting me again._ She heard Gajeel grumble low in his chest, heard him draw in another breath, and braced herself for disappointment. She hated that everyone thought that she was weak.

Gajeel just grunted, not pausing in his work on the words he was shaping for their magic practice. It wasn't that he agreed with her. He KNEW how fucking strong the little woman was. The problem was that she didn't believe him when he told her. And it didn't help that he wasn't willing to fight her hand to hand. She'd been trying for weeks anyway to get him to train with her again. This was their second day since the trials announcement, and they'd only worked on her magic so far. Levy had asked Gajeel three different times to fight with her. She even tried a sneak attack yesterday. He'd just sidestepped the punch, caught her arm, and lifted her up in front of him. She'd pouted that he wouldn't fight her and it had looked so cute he couldn't resist claiming her mouth and that had been the end of training for the day.

"Well, it is true that you'll need to be quick to fight the cat, while I take care of the freak. We've got a few days yet, I'm sure we'll figure something out. The magic training should work your speed and reflexes anyway."

With a sigh, Levy nodded, knowing that she'd lost the argument again. Gajeel couldn't tell her that he wouldn't spar with her because he was afraid of hurting her again. She wouldn't understand that it wasn't because of her own weakness, but his. He didn't trust his control, not since he'd cut her the last time. He didn't think he was strong enough to see her injured by his own hands again.

* * *

"Right. Let's try that again."

Levy huffed out a breath, pushing blue hair out of her face before retying the headband she wore. She watched her Dragon Slayer walk around the training field they were in, picking up the projectiles he'd been hurling at her for the last hour. Gajeel had shaped words out a lightweight metal and was using them as a training tactic. Glaring at him a little, Levy pushed herself off the ground, shaking out her arms and fingers to loosen them up again. The metal was light enough that it wasn't going to do lasting damage if she didn't move fast enough, but there were still bruises forming on her arms and legs.

Gajeel moved his pile of words behind a long wall he'd made along one side of the field so that she wouldn't see the word until it was flying at her, and hunkered down for a moment, tossing the objects onto the ground at random.

"Ya ready, Shrimp?"

Levy nodded, sliding her right foot back a little and lifting her hands in front of her, almost as if they were about to spar. Her left hand was open, her palm facing Gajeel, only the first two fingers of her right hand extended so she could write defenses as she went. As she settled into her stance, the first word came flying at her and her hand whipped around in the air, "water" appearing in front of her as the "fire" that Gajeel had lobbed at her passed through it. Levy stepped to the side to make sure the word missed her as it fell.

That was one hiccup to their training technique, the retaliations didn't always fully stop the attack. They had realized it a little too late that this wouldn't disappear as a regular fire would, and it had slammed into her chest, knocking her over. Not surprisingly, Gajeel had just grunted to hide his amusement, once he knew she was okay.

"Laxus would hit harder than that."

As her feet slid to her left to avoid the first falling word, Levy's eyes locked onto the next, Gajeel not wasting any time in his assault. No one else was going to be taking it easy on them, he wasn't going to let his woman expect fairness from their opponents. Again, her hand flashed in the air, this time her own "fire" erupting from her fingers and engulfing the "ice". Levy threw herself forward, rolling underneath it and feeling the heat from the metal as it passed. That particular word was covered in scorch marks and ash, fire being the only word she'd used in defense so far. Her momentum continued and Levy came up onto her feet without missing a beat or wobbling, her left hand batting away a small word that was flying at her face. There were several "physical" attacks of varying sizes, and she'd discovered that she could save herself a little energy if she deflected the smaller ones with her hand instead.

They continued this exercise for several minutes, Levy deflecting or countering each of the words that Gajeel threw at her. Gajeel wouldn't admit it to her until after the trials, he was ridiculously proud of his tiny woman. She'd come so far in her recovery, and her timing and thinking were as quick as ever. Here she was, nearing exhaustion, and she still hadn't let a single attack slip through. And she wasn't just blindly throwing her magic around, either. There were some attacks that were completely avoidable that she'd simply moved around. He had caught himself once or twice just standing there watching her. She was starting to flag a little, which was understandable, but he still wasn't going to let that drop in her defenses slide. She'd allowed her back to turn to him as she reacted to the "lightning" he'd thrown at her a moment ago.

Grinning to himself, Gajeel leaned to snatch a handful of the smaller projectiles that he'd fashioned to represent small physical attacks. There would be several opponents who could unleash those, and Levy needed to have defenses for those as well. He pulled back his right arm, throwing three of the words at the same time, watching them fan out as they flew towards the bluenette. He immediately snatched three more words in quick succession, whipping them one after the other. Gajeel waited a count of five before taking the last five and launching two at Levy's torso, two at her feet and one at her hand. The fact that they had a good distance to travel allowed the final words a chance to catch the others since he threw them a little harder.

As all of the words raced towards Levy and she still hadn't turned around or responded, Gajeel wondered for a moment if he'd gone a little overboard. He started to open his mouth to yell a warning, after all in a fight he'd be watching her back anyway, but stopped short of saying anything as a new word formed in the air behind her. Almost quicker than he could track, "dome" appeared behind Levy, growing and shifting its shape until the letters lost most of their distinction, curving around and over the tiny woman like a shell. The physical attack words all bounced off harmlessly and fell to the ground. There was a silence for a moment as she waited to make sure there wasn't another attack about to assault her defenses.

Gajeel thought for a moment to see if there was a weakness to this defense she'd come up with. With a smirk, he stomped a foot into the ground, sending his metal out to drill up underneath her. At the same time, to keep her from dispelling it too soon, he drew in a great breath, bellowing out shards of metal with his Iron Dragon's Roar. His sensitive hearing heard her squeak as the metal collided with her shell, but this just made him smile. Within seconds, his drill had neared the surface inside the dome. With a final push, he pulled the metal back down, flattening it into a platform about three feet down. This way the ground would collapse underneath her, but she wouldn't be hurt from a fall or be impaled on the drill.

Again, he heard her squeak in surprise, and this time her defensive word disappeared as the shock made her lose her focus.

"Gajeel! That wasn't one of the plans!"

He sauntered over, peering down into the hole with a deep chuckle before he bent down on one knee and extended his hand to pull her out.

"Because our opponents are gonna stick to our plans? C'mon Shrimp, yer the brains of this op. Ya know they ain't gonna go easy on ya. What if we're against bunny girl? Ya know that one spirit of hers could do that to ya too, and she ain't likely to keep ya from gettin' hurt in the process."

The tiny woman puffed out her cheeks in frustration, knowing he was right. Gajeel chuckled again, slipping an arm around her waist as he lifted her out, settling her on his knee.

"Yer reaction times are great though. 'Specially with how tired ya are."

Levy blushed, leaning against him as she pulled in slow deep breaths to slow her heart rate.

"So… about that hand to hand sparring?"

Gajeel made a strange snorting sound before turning his head to the side of the training field and calling out to the watchers he'd noticed a few hours ago,

"Ya may as well come out, ya assholes. I know yer watchin'."

Levy pulled away, blinking up at her dragon in confusion and looking around the training area that they were in. There were some plants lining one side, but she hadn't even thought about it before. Kicking herself as the realization set in that those plants weren't natural, she saw her friends step sheepishly from behind a particularly large bush.

"I'm assumin' yer here 'cause ya wanna help with her trainin', no? Fine. Help."

Gajeel stood, setting Levy on her feet, his hand resting on her back as he glared at the two men standing in front of them. He lifted his hand to pat her shoulder and then turned, starting to walk to the side of the training field to sit and watch. While it wasn't the straight up denial that she'd been expecting, Levy still sighed, her shoulders drooping slightly as she watched the Dragon Slayer walking away from her.

"Gajeel! They won't fight me! And even if they do, it's not going to help. They're both too afraid of cracking fragile little Levy…"

Her voice broke as she trailed off, looking away as anger warred with tears on her face. Droy looked down at the ground, nudging a rock with his toe. He didn't even try to argue, because she was right. Almost the entire time that they had been a team, he'd been unwilling to fully train with Levy for fear of hurting her. Although at this point, if he was honest, he wouldn't be much of a challenge for anyone to fight hand to hand, but he didn't really want to admit that out loud. That would just make Levy and Jet start harassing him about a diet again. Gajeel simply folded his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow at the Script Mage. He really didn't want to have this fight again right now. Not with these idiots around.

Before anyone else said anything, Jet shot forward. He wasn't actually using any of his speed magic, so far as Gajeel could tell, but he was still moving pretty fast. Levy was going to be hit if she didn't stop sulking. The Dragon Slayer held his tongue, he wouldn't always be able to warn her of attacks when they were in the middle of a fight, and he knew she was capable of defending herself. Just as Jet neared her with his fists raised, Levy's demeanor changed. Gajeel wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been watching her so closely, but her shoulders tightened a little and her hands clenched into fists. Jet threw his first punch and Levy simply ducked under him, throwing a cross straight into his chest and allowing his own momentum to add to the force of her counter attack.

Gajeel caught his own hands clenching as he watched his tiny mate defend herself against her tall speedster. They exchanged several blows, the both of them blocking or deflecting. The Dragon inside threw itself against the tight hold that Gajeel had on it at one point when Jet landed a solid punch to Levy's stomach, knocking the woman back a few feet, but she recovered quick enough with a kick that managed to slip inside the redhead's defenses. They both stood for a moment gasping for the breath they'd knocked from each other before Levy straightened, a heated glare leveled at her best friend.

"You're holding back! You aren't even going at your top speed!"

Jet shook his head, turning to dash to the edge of the field for a bottle of water for each of them, tossing one to Levy.

"I've matched Mira's speed a few times. She's the only one who is going to be out there who is close to my speed. The rest of them you're already a match for. Well, maybe not Laxus in his lightning form, but Levy if you come up against him with that you'd better throw a lightning rod and get the fuck out of there. Don't even try to fight him."

Gajeel rumbled his approval at that logic before stepping forward.

"He's not gonna be a problem for the Shrimp. If we go against Laxus, I'll keep his attention on me. Yer right though, these idiots aren't enough of a challenge for ya. Fine. Ya get yer wish. Tomorrow Shrimp, it's you and me."

* * *

 _ **A/N Almost forgot it was my week to post first! Thanks all for reviews and such, we're having so much fun writing this and seeing y'all's reactions!**_

 _ **Muddyevil will be posting on hers too, don't forget to check out her**_ ** _fics!_**

 _ **Much loves!**_


	6. Chapter 6

"Let's go, Luce! We have to start training right away!"

The Celestial mage screamed in shock as she was grabbed by the wrist and dragged from the guildhall. She had been wandering around talking to their friends and being congratulated for being chosen for the S Class trials, and then Natsu popped out of nowhere, latching onto her arm and bolting out the door.

"Natsu! Hang on a sec, I can run on my own!"

The blonde shrieked at her teammate, her left hand clinging to the keys on her belt to make sure they didn't fall off as she lurched after the Dragon Slayer. He finally let go, grinning back at her over his shoulder, although he didn't slow down any at all. Flashing a brilliant smile of her own, Lucy poured on all of the speed that she had to catch up to the pink haired mage running in front of her.

"Where are we heading? Do you have a particular place in mind?"

Lucy was proud of herself for the fact that she was only slightly out of breath at this point, even though they had been running for almost ten minutes already. The conditioning that they had already been doing was definitely helping her endurance! Natsu simply nodded, his scarf flapping behind them as the road disappeared in their dust. Without any warning to his partner, the Dragon Slayer suddenly split off to the left, cutting her off as he blitzed down another path. She yelled angrily, swinging a slap at him as he ran in front of her, but he just laughed and ducked under her arm. She lurched after him, laughing and attempting to jump onto Natsu's back. They made a little game of it as they careened down the trail, their laughter and flailing around scaring birds and small animals as they went.

The game ended when they finally burst out into a clearing, Natsu sliding to a stop immediately and turning to look at the blonde girl. Lucy however, hadn't been expecting the abrupt change in speed and launched herself at the Dragon Slayer, wrapping her arms around his torso as she tackled him to the ground. The couple tumbled into the clearing, Lucy's shrieks scaring even more birds out of their roosts, but Natsu just laughed again as he caught her in against his chest and made sure he was between her and the ground as they fell.

"Hey, Luce-"

Lucy lifted her head up, breathless from their run and the laughter, giggling softly. Natsu grinned up at the girl, pushing her hair back off of her face, but froze as his ears picked up a sound nearby. He rolled quickly, hissing at her to hush when Lucy squeaked, caging the Celestial Mage against the ground between his arms as he pushed himself up, his eyes narrowed as he looked around.

"So that's the kind of training you've been up to lately, 'ey Flamebrain? There's no way you're going to be able to beat me like that."

Growling, Natsu lurched to his feet as the blonde girl under him covered her face to hide the intense blush that had spread across her cheeks. The other pair was standing at the edge of the field, Juvia covering a giggle while Gray smirked over at them.

"We were here first, Ice Princess! Piss off!"

Lucy rolled up off the ground to stand next to her partner, resting a hand on his shoulder for a moment to remind him that she was there.

"We're not going to just walk away. This training area is the best for Juvia with the river right there. You can train anywhere, you want, Hothead! YOU piss off!"

Juvia blushed as she grabbed Gray's arm, smiling to herself that he was thinking of the best training for HER first.

"Gray-sama, Juvia can train anywhere, she doesn't need the river. Juvia can find another training area."

The ice mage looked down at his partner, mouth turning up in a slight grin as he gently pulled her hand from his arm. He squeezed her fingers in his own for a moment, and the Rain Woman looked at him. She had noticed his body temperature dropping and knew what was coming. Turning slightly, Juvia dropped the bag she had carried with towels and extra clothes, starting to pull her overshirt off. There was no way this was going to end without a fight, and if Gray-sama was fighting, Juvia would be by his side. For his part, Gray had already shucked his shirt and was clasping his hands together as he strode towards the other couple. Lucy sighed, reaching for her keys as Natsu let out a great laugh and, fire erupting around his arms, he bound forward to meet Gray.

* * *

Lucy collapsed to the ground, her sides heaving as she dismissed her spirits. They'd been training for four days already, and she was exhausted. But aside from taking this short break, she wasn't going to admit that to Natsu. After all, he was the one fighting the spirits she was summoning, he should be tired too. He didn't seem to be though. The Dragon Slayer was sat on the ground, laughing hysterically at the way he'd just beaten Virgo. Taking a deep breath, the Celestial Mage rolled up to her feet, glaring over at her partner.

"Alright, are you ready? Let's go again."

Natsu leapt to his feet, slamming his fist together with a bright grin on his face.

"Yeah! Come on! Let's see how many you can get up to today!"

Lucy nodded, pulling Loke's key from the ring on her hip. He was always the easiest, so she summoned him first. Up until now Lucy had been able to summon three spirits before it caused too much of a strain. Light shone around them and Loke stepped through, thankfully refraining from flirting. They'd been through this pattern enough times in the last few days that he'd dispensed the pleasantries and just started coming out of his gate swinging. Natsu squinted against the light of the summoning and stepped to the side as the lion spirit lunged forward. The Dragon Slayer immediately slammed a fist into the back of his opponent's head, but Loke simply rolled forward, coming up on his feet to face Natsu.

The pink haired man spun on his foot to face the spirit, and Lucy took the opportunity to whip her hand up with Virgo's key, trying to be quiet about the fact that she was summoning her. She didn't see the maiden right away, but she wasn't concerned. Her spirits knew what they were doing, and had their own way of trying to help with the couple's training. A second later Lucy had to stifle laughter as Natsu yelled, the ground opening up underneath him. Virgo popped up out of another hole next to Lucy, bowing slightly at the waist. The blonde girl smiled, holding out her fist to bump it against her spirit's, grinning at the other's choice of clothing. Virgo was wearing a bright pink tank top and a pair of grey track pants, apparently having decided that was more fitting than her normal outfit.

"Do I deserve punishment, Princess? You can hit me harder than that."

Lucy just rolled her eyes and focused on the fight in front of her. Natsu of course hadn't been delayed by the hole appearing under him by more than a few seconds, shooting out of the ground with flames from his feet. He'd immediately turned that into an attack on Loke, spinning in the air to slam his right heel down on the spirit's head. Loke had tumbled to the side, eyes wide at the divot in the ground where Natsu's foot landed.

"Aren't we just sparring?! Geez, Natsu!"

Virgo leapt forward at that point, and the fight devolved into a two-on-one fist fight. Lucy took a deep breath, this time grabbing Gemini's key. She hadn't tried this yet and wanted to see if it would work. The twin spirits appeared, having discussed this strategy with their owner the night before, looking exactly like the Celestial Mage. From the bright pink shorts to the white tank top, their hair in a high pony tail, Gemini clenched her hand and grinned at Lucy, holding out her hand for the key to the Gate of the Goat. Lucy figured if she could get Gemini to call one of her spirits, it would give Natsu an extra opponent and save her own magic a little. Maybe.

Capricorn, for his part, stepped through and looked immediately to Lucy, trying to gauge her stamina and well being. He nodded at her, grinning slightly before turning to join in the fight. He'd opted for more practical clothes as well, loose pants and no shirt instead of his usual suit. Capricorn took advantage of a moment's distraction and hooked his arms around the Dragon Slayer's, lifting the shorter mage into the air just a little to give the others a way to attack. He muttered something that Lucy couldn't hear, only see that he was talking, but before she could try to make it out, Loke went flying into the trees lining the training area. He'd rushed forward, just to be kicked square in the chest by Natsu.

The Celestial Mage stood watching still, debating having Gemini try to summon another of her spirits. She didn't think that the twins could handle that strain though, so she tucked that idea away for future reference, as an emergency tactic. Closing her eyes for a moment as Loke came running back to the fight, Lucy took a few slow breaths, assessing her own energy. She was surprised to realize she didn't feel all THAT much of a strain, and her eyes flew open as a huge grin split across her face.

"Gemini, go ahead and join the fight! He doesn't look like he's struggling enough!" The spirits in question smiled as well, beginning to glow as they ran forward, changing form as they moved. When the light faded, they had copied Capricorn's appearance, hoping to add a little confusion to the mix. Lucy turned to the side, sprinting over to the river. Thankfully she'd managed to talk to this particular spirit as well, so she _hoped_ Aquarius would remember their agreement and that this was necessary. Not that she was holding out for the spirit to be happy to see her. Lucy plunged her hand into the water, noticing the heat that was building behind her. Natsu yelled, a burst of flame erupting as all of the spirits she'd already summoned went flying.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer!"

Lucy screamed out the summoning words, her vision starting to blur a little. She assumed it was from the heat, since her magic had been fine a moment before, and let herself slip into the water a little further to protect against the flames. The spirits had assured her that they'd be fine against his flames, but Lucy's own skin was still subject to burning. The water was cool and brought her relief, and she found herself slipping further into the river. _But… where's Aquarius?_ She tried to lift her head and see what had happened, but she found that she just didn't have energy anymore. All she could hear was a roar, not Natsu, but this rushing sound, and she started to panic when she realized that she couldn't open her eyes to look for its source.

"You miserable idiot. I can't believe you would be so stupid. And YOU! You should have known better."

Lucy opened her eyes slowly, squinting against the light above her as she heard Aquarius yelling and a low rumbling sound. She was aware of Natsu sitting nearby, rubbing the back of his head and grumbling about it being taken too far. He somehow looked angry and embarrassed at the same time, glaring at someone just behind Lucy. Turning her head slowly, the blonde girl squeaked and started to blush when she realized her head was laying in Loke's lap. For his part, the lion spirit was very subdued, not making any jokes or trying to flirt or behaving in a way that would have made his owner more uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I should have switched to my own power sooner. You put too much strain on yourself."

The Celestial Mage blinked a few times, struggling to sit up and look around more. Loke wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lifted her, supporting her just until she was stable and then scooting a few feet away. As soon as there was that distance between them, the rumbling stopped, and it was only when she glanced at Natsu and saw the anger leave his face that she realized he had been growling. She reached a hand up to tuck some hair behind her ear, covering the small laugh that escaped. She always found it cute when she caught Natsu being jealous. He didn't even always realize it, and when someone said something he would adamantly deny it, but she thought it was adorable.

"So… does someone want to tell me what happened?"

Both of the men sitting next to her looked away, their faces darkening in identical blushes. Aquarius just shook her head, tossing her blue hair over her shoulder.

"You are all idiots, that's what happened. Don't call me again for a few days. I don't want to see their stupid faces."

With that, she pushed herself off the rock she'd been perched on, disappearing back into the Celestial Spirit Realm and ignoring the sputtering protests of the males. Natsu started growling again, but Lucy reached for her bag that she'd noticed laying next to her. She pulled out some protein bars and a lighter, opening the first and setting the end of it ablaze before throwing it to her partner. He caught it with a grin, watching the flames grow for a minute until it was big enough to be appetizing.

"Well… when Capricorn showed up, he told me you were likely to try and summon someone else since the trick with Gemini had worked. I didn't want you to be strained too much, so I let Natsu kick - YES I LET YOU - me from the training area. I let it send me back and then came through my Gate on my own power to free you up a little. I should have done it sooner, I didn't realize you were already so drained. Aquarius… uh… she, well, she took exception to coming through her Gate to see you sliding into the river. None of us noticed - you didn't tell anyone if you did notice! - because we were so engrossed with the fight. Well, Cap noticed, but he wasn't able to get to you fast enough. He's probably going to sulk about that for a few days. Anyway, she screamed at us, drowned the whole field, washed Natsu onto a boat…I don't even know where she got it, actually. I think she pulled it down the river."

Lucy covered her laughter again at Natsu's complaints thrown in throughout Loke's narrative, and the mental image of the Dragon Slayer being stuck on a boat. She _did_ feel bad about Capricorn beating himself up, she'd have to call him later and talk to him about that. Looking around them, she could see puddles of water in the training field and nodded, seeing the amount of water her spirit had doused the field with. Natsu's flames hadn't even had time to do any damage to the grass.

"Thanks Loke… I think we'll be done for today. You can go ahead and go back."

The spirit nodded, glowing for a moment before disappearing from sight. Lucy pushed herself shakily to her feet, holding out her hand to the Dragon sitting on the ground in front of her.

"C'mon Natsu. Let's go home."

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **Whoop! NaLu training! This is pretty much the first time either of us has written NaLu, if we're being honest, so bear with us! If you see something out of character, please do tell! We want to make this whole fic enjoyable for everyone, and this isn't going to be the last time that they're here!**

 **Don't forget to check out Muddyevil's works, they're fantastic(Just like her!)**

 **Much loves!**


	7. Chapter 7

Gray loved Juvia with all his heart, he really did. But sometimes the woman drove him certifiably insane. Like now, when they were the dead last team left in the hall as she went around graciously accepting the congratulations everyone gave her at being picked for the second year in a row and offering her own condolences to those who were not chosen. Gray sighed as he watched her, groaning as he covered his eyes in annoyance. There was absolutely zero chance that there would be even the worst training arenas left to work in. He didn't particularly want to share, but it was looking more and more like they would have to.

After a few minutes, and when Juvia started assuring Kinana that 'maybe next year will be your year' Gray swore loudly, walking up behind her and grabbing her arm to pull her back towards the entrance of the guild. She giggled slightly at the physical contact, wrapping herself around his bicep as she put a spring in her step to follow him.

"Isn't it great that we're both going to become S-Class together, Gray-sama!?"

Gray sighed as he squinted his eyes against the sun as it beat down on his face. Great, the weather was working against the two of them already. He thought of the one place that may have been left unoccupied, somewhere deep in the woods where they often trained. It was in the bend on the river which was most definitely helpful for Juvia's magic. The woman in question practically skipped alongside him, and Gray couldn't help but smile. He couldn't be gloomy around her, he was pretty sure it was impossible.

Gray hadn't _thought_ they were being quiet as they made their way through the forest to the training area, but the fact he could hear Natsu talking through the trees meant that the Dragon Slayer _must_ be distracted. As soon as he got to the edge of the clearing he could see Natsu pinning Lucy underneath him, settled in between the girl's legs as she grinned up at him. A wind that blew from behind him told him that Natsu would absolutely be able to smell him anyway, so he smirked as he shouted over to him.

"So that's the kind of training you've been up to lately, 'ey Flamebrain? There's no way you're going to be able to beat me like that."

Gray watched as Natsu jumped up to his feet and legitimately _growled_ at him. Juvia laughed behind him, a tinkling sound as Lucy tried to hide her face in embarrassment and Natsu opened and closed his mouth like and idiot before finally finding his words.

"We were here first, Ice Princess! Piss off!"

Gray tutted at the nickname, before drawing himself up to his full height. He was a couple of inches taller than Natsu, and he made sure that he used those few inches to the best of his advantage.

"We're not going to just walk away. This training area is the best for Juvia with the river right there. You can train anywhere, you want, Hothead! YOU piss off!"

Gray noticed Juvia grabbing a hold of his arm, and raised his hand to cover hers protectively. He could train anywhere, but for her to reach her full potential then she needed the water there. Especially with how hot the sun was beating down on the two of them. Juvia reached up on her tiptoes, starting to whisper into his ear.

"Gray-sama, Juvia can train anywhere, she doesn't need the river. Juvia can find another training area."

The ice mage looked down at his partner, mouth turning up in a slight grin as he gently pulled her hand from his arm. He squeezed her fingers in his own for a moment, and the Rain Woman looked at him. She had noticed his body temperature dropping and knew what was coming. Turning slightly, Juvia dropped the bag she had carried with towels and extra clothes, starting to pull her overshirt off. There was no way this was going to end without a fight, and if Gray-sama was fighting, Juvia would be by his side. For his part, Gray had already shucked his shirt and was clasping his hands together as he strode towards the other couple. Lucy sighed, reaching for her keys as Natsu let out a great laugh and, fire erupting around his arms, he bound forward to meet Gray.

Gray threw up a shield almost instantly, protecting both him and Juvia from the almost supernova heat heading towards them. He poured as much magic as he could spare into the wall of ice in front of him as Natsu hit it head on. He grunted as the ice wall shuddered, before feeling a blast of water emerge from next to him as Juvia shot up into the sky.

"Gray-sama! Juvia's water will make short work of Natsu-san! You work on Lucy-san!"

Gray watched as Juvia cleared his wall, shouting out the name of her spell as she turned her body into a spinning drill of water, small blades that he knew were deathly sharp emerging from them as she spun down towards the Dragon Slayer. Gray smirked, allowing the ice in front of him to disappear as he made the most out of the confusion and ran full speed towards Lucy.

His best chance was probably to knock her over, and get her keys away from her. Quick, easy and relatively painless. He was nearly there too, bent at the waist to tackle her when he was sideswiped out of the blue.

He tried to roll but his attacker stayed on top of him, straddling his hips as two hands pinned his shoulders. He growled up at the celestial spirit, but there was a joke in his words.

"Fucking traitor. I thought you said you were gonna help me get S Class?"

Loke laughed down at him, crossing his arms as he sat up.

"You can hardly talk, you didn't choose me to be your partner."

If Gray didn't know any better, he would have said there was a hint of betrayal in his voice. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Loke coughed, adjusting his suit as he stood to his feet and took a battle position.

"Anyway, isn't fighting you helping you train? Ergo helping you become stronger, ergo helping you get S Class."

Gray grunted, rolling easily to his feet. He dusted himself off, clasping his hands in front of him again, ice seeping up his arms.

"Yeah, okay. That's what you're doing."

Without another word, Gray lunged forward, sharpened ice blades emerging from his elbows as he lashed out at his former partner. He usually reserved the Seven Slice Dance for a finishing move, but he wasn't really in the mood for a full out fight against the spirit. Especially over a training ground. He began his assault, lashing out quickly to slash Loke across his chest. The lion spirit was powerful, Gray knew that, but he didn't really have a defense against ice swords with him at that exact moment, so this shouldn't be too challenging.

Loke leapt out of the way as Gray came at him, trying to keep as much space as possible between the two of them as he built up the magic energy he would need to fight. He was stronger than he had been the last time they fought, and now he was here under Lucy's magic and not his own. He took deep breaths as Gray came towards him, before letting out a burst of light at the last second.

Gray was buffeted back by a light that was almost blinding in its brightness. He flipped in the air as he was lifted up, before stumbling on his feet as he hit the ground. Fuck. Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he was hoping. Smirking at the man across from him, his hands connected and a burst of cold danced across his skin as the ice formed between them.

"Ice-Make… Cannon!"

* * *

Juvia grinned as Natsu's hand went straight through her, although it was a little disturbing at the amount of her body that just… _evaporated_ at the flames. At least the fire hissed slightly as it was put out. Juvia landed lightly on the floor in front of the Dragon Slayer, who smirked slightly before his fists reignited.

Juvia had never fought Natsu before, although she had seen it many times. At least once a day Natsu either initiated or joined one of the guild brawls, but Juvia never did. She took a deep breath as she wondered which would come out stronger, fire or water.

Natsu chuckled as he leapt forward again, flames licking up his elbows as he used them to propel himself faster. Juvia dodged out of the way, it was true that he would go straight through her but she would be the first to admit she wasn't quite sure what would happen if he evaporated her all away. She adjusted her balance before she spun around to the Dragon Slayer's back and trapped him in a water lock.

She smirked over at him as his flames extinguished and watched him struggle to relight them. He bared his teeth to her as she felt the water heat up, and poured all of her energy into cooling it down as much as possible but she could still see steam rising off it as the water evaporated. She gritted her teeth in concentration, sweat starting to pour from her brow as she started to lose control. She felt her body start to liquefy as she used more and more magic energy trying to keep Natsu contained. The water got hotter and hotter, steam now rolling off the sphere so thickly it was impossible to see through it to the other side. Juvia felt herself be knocked back by the force of the water exploding outward, flipping in the air before she landed heavily on her front.

Natsu was grinning, taking a few steps towards Juvia as she tried to struggle to her feet. Flames were licking around his hands as he stretched his arms before starting to take a deep breath. Juvia tried to push up with her arms, but she was almost entirely out of energy. Maybe the water lock hadn't been the best idea. Feeling her elbows give out her face smashed into the dirt again and she braced herself for some sort of impact, but it never came. Instead she felt strong arms grab a hold of her shoulders and drag her to her feet. As soon as she had purchase Gray slung her arm around his shoulders and began to walk the both of them out of the clearing. A quick glance over her shoulder showed Natsu encased in a cage of ice, starting to melt at the edges already. It wouldn't hold him for long. Slightly further away Lucy and Loke were in the same predicament, although she knew it would take them much longer to escape. She looked up at Gray, seeing his mouth set in a firm line as they left the clearing and decided to stay quiet for now.

* * *

"What happened back there, Juvia?"

Juvia had already finished her eighth pint of water as they sat in the kitchen in Gray's apartment. They hadn't spoken since they left the clearing, but now Gray was looking at her intently as he fiddled with the buttons on the front of his shirt. He had gotten dressed again as soon as they entered the dwelling but it didn't look like it was going to be staying for long.

"Natsu-san is just much stronger than…"

"No. He isn't."

Gray hadn't raised his voice, but she almost wished that he had. The soft way he spoke, layered with deep disappointment, was even worse than straight out anger.

"You were S-Class in Phantom Lord. You could have defeated him easily. And now you've had time to train with us, how are you that much weaker than him now?"

Juvia gritted her teeth, not allowing herself to cry. She had let Gray down, and not for the first time either. She placed her glass down on the table and refused to look the ice wizard in the eyes. He hadn't said anything since his question and it was obvious that he was actually looking for an answer. She thought it was obvious, but apparently not.

"Back in Phantom Lord, Juvia had the rain to help her. The rain has always made Juvia stronger. But now she is happy the rain isn't there anymore. And Juvia… Juvia doesn't miss the rain. She would rather be happy than strong anyday. Sometimes she just wishes… she just wishes that she didn't disappoint Gray-sama."

It was silent for a bit longer, both wizards refusing to look at each other. When Gray finally spoke, Juvia had to strain her ears to hear him.

"You don't disappoint me, Juvia. It's just… I think to myself sometimes. I took the rain from you, which means I took away all of your power as well. You are so powerful in the rain. Both when you fought me, and from what Erza said when you fought Mer… ed… y…"

Gray stood up without any further words, holding his hand out in order to help Juvia up off her stool. He smiled at her, a smile that never failed to light up her heart, and started to drag her towards the door.

"Come on, I got an idea."

"You do know that if you hadn't brought her you would be dead where you stand, right?"

The man glared at them through his one good eye, leaning on the door frame of the old shack they had been lead to. Juvia started to wring her hands, already thinking this was a bad idea but Gray remained standing tall as he stared at the man in front of him. After a few moments Cobra gave up, walking forward to sweep Kinana up in his arms and kiss her deeply. Juvia and Gray looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, before Gray coughed quietly.

"She's in her room. Go in, straight to the back and through the door on your left. Might wanna knock, you know, be polite."

Kinana giggled as Cobra grabbed her up in his arms and headed out of the region of the shack and into the forest around them. Juvia grasped Gray's arm as he growled at what the Dragon Slayer had said, calming him down and dragging him into the run down shack they had been hunting for all day.

* * *

Meredy was sat on her bed reading a book when the two of them walked in, and jumped to her feet squealing when she saw who had visited her. Juvia stumbled back as the younger girl wrapped her arms around her neck, and Gray just stood awkwardly to the side as he watched their reunion.

"Juvia! How have you been!?"

Gray settled down on the bed as the two girls caught up, rushing through everything that had happened over the past few months since they last saw each other. There was no point trying to speed them up or get them back on track, he had learned that a long time ago. Finally the two girls ran out of energy, and Meredy sat cross legged on her bed and stared at her visitors.

"Not that I don't love catching up, but I guess you two didn't make the trek all the way over here just to talk. How can I help you?"

Juvia toyed with the bottom of her shirt, and Gray sighed as he realised that he was going to have to explain everything to the woman on the bed.

"Well, Meredy, your magic focuses on emotions doesn't it?"

Meredy nodded slightly, but the confused look on her face simply deepened.

"We currently have a week to train for our guild's S-Class trials, and I want Juvia to be as strong as she possibly can be. But, her strength is strongly tied to her emotions, more accurately _negative_ emotions. Ever since we met, Juvia has lost the ability to make it rain and thus lost a lot of her power. You should know, you've seen her fight in and out of the rain."

Meredy nodded, not ashamed of how she and Juvia had met. It was in her past, and there was nothing she could do to change that. Dwelling on her past misdeeds wasn't going to help anyone.

"So, we were wondering whether you could teach Juvia how to tie her power to a _different_ emotion, so it doesn't only rain when she's upset?"

Meredy thought to herself for a moment, tapping her chin as she thought. She was silent for so long that even Gray started to fidget, and Juvia sighed when she noticed his shirt hit the floor. There was no changing the habit of a lifetime, it seemed.

"No, I can't."

Juvia felt her face fell as Meredy gave her answer, and so did Gray's. They had put a lot of faith in this idea, and it looked like it wasn't going to work.

"Juvia's power is so closely entwined with her negative emotions that it would take much more than a week to uncouple them and attach them to other emotions. It's something I can do in time, but that won't help you for the trials."

Juvia tried not to be upset, just as Gray tried not to hear the small pattering of rain that started to become audible on the roof. At least they were ruining whatever Cobra and Kinana were doing out there.

"However, there is something I can do. I can help you control your emotions more, bringing the negative emotions to the front at will to control the rain that way. It will be touch and go whether we manage it in time, but that's the best I can do for now."

Juvia and Gray looked at each other, silently asking whether it was something they wanted to do.

"Gray-sama, it would mean you won't get a lot of training…"

Gray smirked, standing to his feet and already starting to undo his trousers. Meredy looked away in embarrassment, but Juvia was already used to it.

"Meredy, can you get started on that now? I'm going to go and pick a fight with Cobra…"


	8. Chapter 8

Wendy was folding her hands over and over in her lap when Lily made his way over to her, landing on the table in front of her lightly. Wendy smiled up at him, she had worked out as soon as the nominations were read out that she was probably going to be partnered with the Exceed. She couldn't see Freed wanting to partner up with someone who's magic didn't line up with his very well, and Cana looked too drunk to even begin to plan anything out.

"Well, Miss Marvell, it appears that we will be partnered together."

Wendy nodded, Carla smiling oddly at the polite way the two of them were conducting themselves.

"My offensive power isn't very high, but I believe if I use my support magic on you we should be able to beat everyone else in the room."

Lily grinned. Wendy was the perfect blend of modest and confident in her abilities, which was so rare to find nowadays. Especially in Dragon Slayers.

"I'm sure your offensive power is greater than you think, Wendy. It's just a matter of training, just like in any fight. But your support magic is invaluable as well. Shall we begin today? Or would you like to wait until tomorrow?"

Carla stood next to her Dragon Slayer, nodding in agreement with everything Lily had said, watching the girl for her response. Wendy's cheeks flushed at the compliments, her head ducking a little as way of thanking her new partner.

"I'm honestly okay with either, Lily. Which would you prefer?"

The Exceed crossed his arms over his chest, his right hand coming up to tap his chin as he considered. They would presumably need a bit of adjusting in order to learn to fight together. Sure, the girl had an Exceed she partnered with, but they'd been together for years. Carla probably didn't even have to think about how to support Wendy anymore. Lily, for himself, was used to fighting with other powerful people, but they had always been fully trained fighters.

"Why don't we just test out a few things today, and tomorrow we'll begin training in earnest?"

Wendy brightened up a little, smiling confidently as she jumped to her feet.

"That sounds like a good plan! There's a field outside the city, they hold carnivals there sometimes, we should head there! That way we don't have to worry if I shout or anything."

The girl rubbed the back of her head a little as Lily chuckled. Definitely a benefit to partnering with Wendy. She wasn't unaware of the destructive nature of her magic, and planned for it. The other Dragon Slayers knew what their magic could do too, they just didn't care. How many times had Lily been left to clean up the mess they made? He turned and gestured towards the door of the guildhall, laughing again when the tiny girl sprinted towards it, only wobbling once as she went. Once the girl was a good distance away, he turned back to Carla, still keeping his voice low because, well, Dragon Slayer.

"Do you think you and Happy might be available to help with our training? I do not feel comfortable sparring against her, if I'm honest, and you know Happy is going to be sulking because he's not partnering with Natsu this year."

They both turned to where the blue Exceed was sat on a table by himself, looking a little lost. Carla sighed, considering Lily for a moment. He simply stared back at her, knowing that she didn't much care for Happy sometimes but would do anything to help Wendy. Finally, the white Exceed sighed again, nodding as wings sprouted from her back.

"I'll ask the tomcat to join us. I know what field the child is meaning. You go ahead and follow her, we'll meet you there."

Lily cracked a smile, his own wings popping out of his back as he leapt into the air to follow Wendy. He stooped quickly, grabbing the back of her shirt as they cleared the building and soaring into the air.

"Which way?"

Wendy smiled, genuinely loving the way the wind flew through her hair and brushed across her skin. Lifting her right hand she pointed Lily in the right way, and her grin spread even wider as they sped towards their destination.

* * *

"It's a little scary that someone so small and adorable has that much power, don't you think?"

Wakaba leaned back on the bench he and Macao were sitting on, taking a pull from his cigar. His best friend snorted, pulling his right foot up to rest his ankle on his other knee.

"That's because when she's older and you flirt with her, she'll be even more powerful and she'll kill you."

Across the field, Wendy blushed, her sensitive hearing picking the men's conversation. She knew they were just like that, talking tough to each other all the time. She also knew she wasn't in any danger of either of them actually giving her any of the sort of troubles that she'd have to kill them for. But it still, it was embarrassing to hear them discussing her so bluntly.

"Pay attention, child! I know I'm not as much of a threat as someone like Natsu or Gajeel, but I WILL hit you!"

The Dragon Slayer blushed darker, bowing her head in apology. Carla stood across from her, having used her transformation magic to take human form to train with her. To her dismay, Pantherlily hadn't wanted to train with her. It was understandable, really, she wasn't anything like the person he was used to training with. But it was still a little disheartening. It had only been two days though. Maybe tomorrow she'd be stronger. Wendy smiled, clenching her hands into fists. She glanced over her shoulder to check on Lily's personal training. He was shadow boxing in his battle mode, throwing punches and kicks, changing his pattern every few minutes. He'd been sparring against Happy in his regular form, but the blue Exceed had given up after only a few minutes and declared himself the "Master of Energy Providing" and left to find some food for everyone. So now Lily was training in an effort to lengthen the time he could stay in his battle form.

"Pantherlily-san, will you hold still a moment?"

The Exceed threw a few more punches before pulling his fists back to himself and dropping them to his sides. He turned to face her, smiling slightly.

"Yes, Wendy? Is everything okay?"

The girl smiled brightly, nodding her head as she walked towards him a little.

"I would like to try some enchantments on you, if you don't mind? They'll take some getting used to, so you should get as much practice as possible."

Pantherlily's face split into a larger smile, his body relaxing as he nodded, waiting for her to cast her enchantments. They had discussed them on the first day, but she hadn't shown him what exactly they did yet.

Wendy's face set in determination and she raised her right arm before swinging it across her body, then twisting and throwing her hands into the air. Magic circles appeared underneath both of the Exceeds as well as Wendy, then she dropped her right hand in front of her, her open palm facing her partners as another circle appeared.

"Vernier! Arms!"

Lily looked down, raising his hands as he felt magic course through them. He clenched his fists, flexing his arms and marvelling at the new strength he felt there. Raising his hands into a ready position, settling his breathing before throwing a right cross… and stumbling forward. The Exceed grunted, adjusting his balance and stance, readying himself again. He threw another punch and lurched over, flailing a little as he tried to slow his fall but moved faster than anticipated. Wendy for her part jumped forward, placing a hand against his arm to help. Carla covered her mouth with a delicate laugh, turning away a little.

"I'm sorry! I should have warned you that Vernier increases your speed as well!"

Lily carefully placed his hand over hers, laughing loudly.

"I could have asked as well, Wendy. There's no harm done. Thank you for your concern!"

The Exceed patted her hand a few times and stepped away, once again lifting his hands and beginning to shadow box again. The small girl smiled as well, turning to walk back with Carla to their own area so they could spar some more.

Across the park, two old men shook their heads, laughing to themselves.

* * *

"Very good, Wendy! Exactly like that!"

Pantherlily clapped his paws together, flying over to the girl as she helped her friend up off the ground. They had been training for four days already, and Wendy was winning her spars with Carla within a few moves. Carla had advanced as well, of course, but their focus had always been on the little Dragon Slayer. Wendy smiled, brushing her hair off her face as her Exceed released the hold she'd had on her transformation. The young girl waved her hand in the air, a gentle breeze blowing around to cool them all off.

"Carla, Carla! I brought you a yummy fish! You must be hungry after such a great fight!"

Happy flew over with a fish in his hands, the white Exceed looking away from him with a grumble. She _was_ hungry, but fish? Ew. Why couldn't he just bring her some tea? Happy's ears drooped a little as he pulled his bag around off his back, sticking the fish back in there.

"I know… you don't like fish. I just thought I'd offer."

Within a minute he perked up again, still rummaging in his little knapsack. With a triumphant cry, Happy whirled to face her again, holding out a thermos and a small cloth that was tied into a carrying sack with a bow on top.

"I knew I had it somewhere! There's a few biscuits to go with your tea!"

Wendy giggled at the expression of shock on her best friend's face, and the little bit of pink that was creeping onto her cheeks as Carla muttered her thanks and accepted Happy's offerings. The blue Exceed puffed his chest out, swelling with the pride of having made Carla happy, and the two made their way to the bench along the side of the field. Wendy and Pantherlily watched the whole exchange without saying a word, the black Exceed shaking his head. After the other two had left, the Dragon Slayer turned back to her partner.

"Thank you, Lily-san! Do you think I might train against you now?"

The black Exceed tapped his chin, considering her request. It was important that she not overdo things in training, he wouldn't want her hurt with no real way to recover. He wasn't quite sure if her magic worked on her own body the way it did on others. However, it was also essential that she have a good idea how to physically fight against someone larger than herself. The vast majority of their opponents would be, well all but Levy, to be exact. And there were a few who would be able to take magic out of the fight. Pantherlily nodded slowly, letting magic flow through himself to shift into his battle form. The tiny Dragon Slayer grinned, waving her hands in front of her as she cast her enchantments again. The magic circles only appeared under her this time, and again the Exceed nodded his approval.

"Right, don't go easy on me, Lily-san! I know our opponents won't either!"

Pantherlily matched her smile, balling up his fists and pulling his hands to a ready position. Fighting her was going to be vastly different from fighting with Gajeel, but he knew that he shouldn't underestimate the girl. She had quite a bit of power in those tiny little arms. Especially with that particular enchantment cast. He stood there waiting for her to make the first move, assessing her height so he was ready when she suddenly lunged forward. They weren't very far apart, but the girl still had to take a few steps forward to be in range. Pantherlily drew his arms a little closer together, watchful of her speed as he went to block what looked like an incoming jab from the way she was holding herself.

However, Wendy was moving faster than he was used to, and at the last second she ducked, kicking out her right foot and spinning on her left. The boosted strength paired with the element of surprise worked together and Pantherlily found himself toppling backwards as Wendy's leg slammed into his own. He shifted his momentum, pushing off with his other foot to propel himself backwards a little, springing off his hands to flip through the air. She was on him again in an instant, throwing three quick punches at his stomach that Lily barely had time to block. He blinked in shock at the determination on her face as the girl continued her assault, even as he struggled to finally regain his balance. _That's how it is then._

The Exceed grinned, letting himself get knocked back by one of the Dragon Slayer's punches, his wings sprouting behind him to help with his balance. Wendy still did not hesitate, running after him and leaping into the air. She spun as she went, a high kick aimed at Pantherlily's head. His hands flew up, catching hold of her leg. She squeaked in surprise, some of her focus lost as the Exceed's hands closed around her, spinning himself to throw her across their training area. Wendy drew in a breath to use her air magic to stop the momentum, but remembered at the last second that she was supposed to be fighting without it for this match. Just before hitting the ground, she forced her body to relax so the impact wouldn't be as great, all of the air she'd just taken in escaping with a loud "Oof!" Lily was next to her in an instant, offering the girl a hand.

"You got a little too cocky there because you caught me off guard at the beginning, which was great, by the way! Just remember that most of our opponents are going to be used to fighting with their hands. You're not likely to catch them off guard. You're also not likely to have to fight them, hopefully I'll be able to keep them busy. But just in case, let's try again."

* * *

 _ **A/N I AM SORRY I AM THE WORST HUMAN! And Muddyevil is an absolute doll for putting up with me. Sorry for the late post, I don't even have a reason, I just didn't manage time well to get my part of this finished. Don't worry, the most brilliant part of our team has already started plugging away at the next chapter, so it should be up on time! Hope this was worth your wait, much loves!**_


	9. Chapter 9

Elfman was leant on the fence which surrounded Fairy Hills, tapping his foot on the pavement in front of him. He hadn't brought any bags, they hadn't needed it the last time so he assumed they wouldn't need it this time either. He heard Evergreen's footsteps come down the path, and turned around slowly before having to take a moment to digest what he saw in front of him.

Evergreen was wearing sports leggings and a fitted crop top, her hair scraped back into a ponytail as she walked up to him. He took a moment to collect his thoughts as he handed her the coffee and sausage roll he had brought with him. They had opted to get an early night and a good rest the night before, and neither trusted the other to allow them to rest properly if they shared a bed.

"You look… different."

Evergreen scoffed, taking a bite out of the roll as she started to head towards the docks.

"You know, if you weren't so dense it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that my normal attire isn't actually the best for fighting in. I thought I would get as much as an advantage as possible."

Elfman nodded. It was a pretty good idea, if he came to think of it.

"Did you sleep well, at least?"

She nodded, starting to drink her coffee as they walked side by side along the street.

"And your magic reserves? All filled up?"

Elfman himself was brimming with magic, and he could feel it darting across his skin like a cool breeze. Then again, he hadn't used much in the last week. He watched as Evergreen's wings materialised, unfurling slowly and flapping on the breeze although she didn't take to the air. Elfman watched them, almost mesmerised as they glittered softly in the sunlight. Even in these more conservative clothes she was still shockingly beautiful. He was pulled out of his thoughts as she began to speak, slowly as if she was considering her words.

"Not as high as before, but still good. We may make it through the first round after all."

She chuckled slightly, but Elfman felt the tension underneath it. He could see the boat up ahead, and while they weren't the last to arrive it was still full of their guildmates, both those competing and those seeing them off. He grabbed her arm, maybe too roughly by the yelp she gave and turned her to face him.

"Evergreen. Before we go."

She looked at him in annoyance, before turning her attention back to her coffee.

"Whatever happens out there, it doesn't matter. I am so _so_ proud of you, and I know everyone else is too."

Her face softened slightly, but she still refused to meet his eye as he bent down to place his forehead on hers.

"Whether we come home S-Class or not, I still love you."

* * *

"I just don't understand why we have to be on a boat, Luce! Can't you have Virgo just take us there or something?"

Lucy glared at her partner so she could keep from laughing, his pitiful whining as funny as it was annoying.

"I've told you, Natsu! She can come anywhere I am, but I'd have to be ON THE ISLAND in order to call her!"

The Dragon Slayer groaned, turning green just from looking up at the boat next to them. They were still standing on solid ground, but his stupid motion sickness was already acting up. Suddenly, he brightened, grabbing Lucy's shoulders and staring into her eyes.

"I know! Call her and make her stay here with me! When you get to the island, you can call her again and she can bring me!"

She tried. Really she did. He looked so hopeful and scared at the same time, she really didn't mean to laugh so loudly. Natsu wilted, his hands dropping to his sides before he just gave up and sat down in the middle of the street.

"I really am sorry, Natsu. I don't know that I would be able to do that and still have any magic power left afterwards. I don't ever have my spirits summoned for that long, or at such a great distance! I'll see what I can do though. The other Dragon Slayers all seem to have a plan, maybe I can get someone to share."

Lucy reached down to run her hand through his hair as she looked around, a soft smile on her face. Her partner just sat there pouting, his arms crossed over his stomach as if he was already nauseous. Maybe he was. As she looked towards the ship, she saw her best friend jumping over the side, waving at Juvia. Lucy ran forward quickly, coming together with the bluenettes in a warm hug, all three of them beginning to babble excitedly about the upcoming trial. She had a few minutes to catch up before asking Levy, everyone else wasn't here yet.

* * *

Carrying Wendy was so much _easier_ than carrying Gajeel. It wasn't just the weight, either. Wendy had cast a support spell on him, which was useful, but also she didn't _wriggle_ as much as Gajeel did. At least, that's what he told her when he insisted he didn't mind carrying her to the docks when she had overslept.

In all fairness, it was probably his fault. He had probably been training her too hard. They had amped up their training towards the end of the week, and although he had let her go early the night before she was probably so exhausted from the week in general the early night hadn't done much. An idea came to him to give the girl a little bit of fun, and he grinned as he worked out how to do it.

"Hang on, I'm going to drop us down."

Lily muttered in her ear as he started circling the boat. Once she nodded so he knew that she'd heard him, Lily lined them up over the center of the foredeck, circled a little lower, and then just closed his wings. Wendy let out an excited shriek that devolved into giggles as the boat rushed up at them. As they came even with the mast, Pantherlily snapped his wings open again, leaning back to toss the girl above him, which of course made her shriek again. He immediately shifted to his larger form, landing on the deck with a THUMP and throwing his arms out to catch her. Wendy settled into his arms as if they'd planned and practiced the maneuver a hundred times, still giggling uncontrollably.

The Exceed smiled at her before setting her on the deck, preparing to shift back to his smaller form. He paused though, when her happiness faded almost instantly, one hand flying to her stomach.

"The boat isn't even moving yet! Why?"

Her voice was so pitiful, he scooped her up again, settling her onto his shoulder and walking towards the gangplank.

"Why don't I fly above the ship once we get going? I can carry you at least most of the way, it won't be a problem. I'm sorry, I should have remembered that you have the same sensitivity as Gajeel."

Wendy patted his head, scratching slightly as she smiled at him.

"That's alright, Lily! You shouldn't waste so much energy flying!"

The Exceed settled her on the dock before finally changing back to his smaller form.

"It's nothing, really. You're very easy to carry. I'm just going to talk to Gajeel for a bit, and I'll come grab you when we're ready to go."

The Dragon Slayer nodded to her partner before heading over to sit next to Natsu.

"Good job, cat. Try to show off an' end up makin' yer partner sick."

Lily rolled his eyes as he walked up to his friend, ignoring the dig.

"I was just trying to entertain the child. Not show off."

Gajeel just snorted, leaning against the railing of the ship and crossing his arms over his chest. Lily silently hopped up next to him.

"So. How'd the kid do?"

* * *

Juvia was practically skipping as she made her way along the sea front towards the docks. Gray hung back slightly, perfectly happy to simply watch her as she danced along the sand. The training had gone well, despite the few acid burns that still adorned his skin. Meredy had told him Juvia had excelled, nudging him with an elbow and whispering in his ear that it might be best not to wind her up too much anymore. But the sun was shining ahead, as good an indicator as any that Juvia was in high spirits.

They got to the end of the beach, and Gray had to make steps in order to get back up onto the docks. He held his hand out to Juvia, even though he knew she could hold herself steady perfectly well, and kept a hold of it even when they were back on solid ground.

They had barely made it to the boat before Juvia was barrelled up in an embrace with Lucy on one side, and Levy on the other. Gray couldn't help but smile as Juvia giggled, wrapping her arms around each of their shoulders as they were whisked up onto the boat, Wendy following along not far behind. Something creeped at the back of Gray's mind that he _really fucking hoped she would be able to fight them when the time came_ but he also knew that at the end of the day, when all this was over, they would all need to fight as a team again. Juvia would give it her all, if not for herself then for him, and that's all he could ask for.

"How has your training gone?"

Erza's voice came from his left and he turned around to look her in the eyes before crossing his arms in front of him. The redhead was in her bikini already, but Gray couldn't complain as he did a quick stock check of his body and realised he was currently shirtless.

"It's gone… well. We focused on Juvia, I guess. Went to visit Jellal actually."

Erza hummed, and Gray instantly realised that she already knew that. It wasn't the biggest secret on the planet that she spent many a night talking to the man on the lacrima, he supposed it wasn't too much of a stretch that he would have told her. He just hoped the man hadn't said too much, it was entirely possible the two of them would come up against Erza in the trials and he didn't want to show all of his cards just yet. Not that Juvia probably wouldn't tell everyone as soon as she was asked.

"Well, I'm happy for you Gray. You both deserve S-Class you've worked so hard for it. Just remember you need to keep your cool and Juvia needs to… lose it."

It was an odd choice of words, and Gray was almost certain Jellal had let the cat out of the bag. Erza didn't elaborate though, simply smiling again as she walked off, probably to bother someone else. He sighed, glancing around the assembled guild members before deciding it was probably best to just get on the boat.

* * *

"There. That should keep you settled. Oh! There's Juvia! I'll be right back!"

Gajeel opened his mouth to say something as the bluenette took off across the deck of the ship, but he just snapped his mouth shut again. There was no stopping the woman when she was on a mission, and apparently that's what she was doing. He'd just have to thank her when they got to the island again. He wasn't really going to mention that he wasn't motion sick, he didn't want the bunny girl asking Levy for help. There was a very real possibility that she'd help the other Dragon Slayer, and Gajeel didn't want her wasting any more magic than she had to. Besides, watching the Salamander's struggle was going to be hilarious.

Across the boat, the females had huddled together, catching up on their weeks. Each of their training partners had been so focused and kept them too busy for much time with each other. Eventually, after a few minutes of pleasantries and realising they still had some time Lucy dropped her voice to a whisper to try and keep it a secret.

"Levy, I need to ask you something. How are you planning on combatting Gajeel's motion sickness?"

Levy smiled, she always loved talking about her magic and the new things she had learned. She pulled a notebook out of her bag, and flicked through a few pages until she found the one she wanted. Lucy saw a few runes written on the page in a handwriting that definitely wasn't Levy's.

"I… borrowed... this notebook from Freed a couple of weeks ago, and these runes should stop the motion sickness. Seems pretty long term too, it should last until we journey back so if there are any vehicles on the island we won't need to reapply them. If I give you this you can…"

She was halfway through handing the book over when a large body shoved in between them, snatching the book up in his hands before holding it above his head.

"I'll take that, thank you…"

Both girls looked up as Laxus walked towards the back of the boat, waving the notebook in the air as he did and Lucy swore. Maybe they had all underestimated just how sensitive the Dragon Slayer's hearing could be.

"It's okay, Lu-chan, I can still remember how to do them it just means I will have to do it for…"

"No, you won't. You need all your energy for the trials."

Of course, if Laxus had heard their conversation Gajeel would as well. He stood behind Levy with his arms crossed and Lucy deflated. Obviously, this wasn't going to work. Levy shot her an apologetic look, Juvia covering her own mouth as she began to giggle, and she knew that the smaller girl would not be helping her out. She would have to find another way.

* * *

Freed and Cana were down in the hold of the ship, Cana studying her cards while Freed drew various runes across the two of them. Each symbol tingled as he drew them with his fingers across her skin, and if she was honest it made concentrating fairly difficult. He had already written many of them throughout the week, trying to spread out his use of magic power, but he insisted that these didn't take up too much of his magic and they absolutely had to be done last minute. Cana allowed herself a slight smile. She had gotten herself the only person who could prepare _this much_ for the trials, and there was a chance that she could actually win this year. And she was taking Freed with her.

He had already drawn a number of runes across Laxus' bare stomach, when they had been the only ones there along with the S-Class wizards. It had been hard to subdue a chuckle as the rune mage settled in between the Dragon Slayer's legs to do it, and even harder to bite back a sarcastic comment but she had managed it. Freed insisted he was the leader of Laxus' body guards first and foremost, and that included protecting him from motion sickness. He had, however, explained to Cana that he had temporarily waived all of the runes that usually covered his teammates, with their permission of course. In the interest of fair play he had also removed ones that would have benefitted him, such as the tracking runes on Evergreen or the runes that alerted him whenever Bickslow got too close. Cana decided not to ask too much about that one. She tried to ignore the twinge of sadness when she realised _she had no one like that_. Sure everyone in the guild were family to her, but she had no teammates. No one to watch her back. Which had become starkly apparent when the time came to choose a partner for the trials.

"Do you know why we have been delayed so much?"

His voice was a low whisper, obviously still trying to hide the fact he was down here from all of his competitors. And Gildarts too, come to think of it. Cana gathered her cards back into a deck and allowed her magic to flow through her fingers as she shuffled them, finding the cards she needed and throwing them onto the table in front of her.

"It looks like Lisanna and Bickslow haven't made it here yet. Master is waiting for them."

Freed chuckled quietly as he moved to her back, drawing larger runes across the skin there.

"You know, I don't know what I was expecting."

* * *

 _C'mon, Bickslow. Even if you don't come yourself don't drag her down with you_.

He had thought Bickslow had gotten over this. He never would have nominated him for S-Class if he didn't. But the hurried conversation he'd had with Lisanna a couple of nights ago told him different. Maybe Bickslow wasn't ready? Maybe he was that terrified little boy again.

Laxus chewed his bottom lip as he paced the deck of the ship, hoping that no one else noticed. He was the Thunder God! He shouldn't be affected by this, by anything! But he was, and he hated to admit it. His three closest friends, and by extension their other halves, genuinely meant the world to him.

"Can you not keep closer grips on your little pets?"

Laxus growled as he looked up to see Gildarts stood in the middle of the boat, careful not to touch anything around him at all. Good. Can't have the clumsy old fool destroying the ship before it even set sail.

"Shut up, old man."

Laxus wanted to send him packing to find Cana, but he didn't want to give Freed any trouble. He wasn't even sure if Gildarts knew who she had teamed up with, the two of them had been almost non contactable since the nominations were announced.

"He is kinda your responsibility, isn't he? You don't see my kid being late, do you?"

Laxus growled, but it hit him hard. The Raijinshuu _were_ his responsibility, and without Freed to keep him in check Bickslow could be halfway across the country by now. When was the last time anyone had spoken to him? Maybe he should go and find Freed… Gildarts must have seen the worry on his face because he stopped teasing the Dragon Slayer and even had the humility to look kind of sheepish at what he had done.

Laxus took a deep breath in order to fight back, when a very familiar scent started to fill his nose. He sniffed again, sure that he had got it wrong. The air smelt overwhelmingly of the sea, along with the assorted scents of all of the guild member's around him but he always had been better at smelling out the Raijinshuu for some reason. But… that shouldn't be right. He shouldn't be coming from that way. Laxus turned slowly, looking over the side of the boat and out across the sea before sighing heavily.

His nose hadn't been lying. Out in the distance he could see two figures slowly getting closer and closer, one stood across what looked like a column and the other flapping two wings. What the fuck had they been doing for them to be coming from that direction? After a few minutes Natsu started whooping and hollering when he caught a hold of their scents as well, and soon everyone was waving at their guild mates as they made their way over to the boat, Bickslow starting to show off as he got closer. The Sieth started to jump from totem to totem, flipping in the air each time and getting bolder the closer he got before he finally jumped free of his totems all together, dismounting and landing upside down on top of the sails. Usually, he knew people wouldn't bother applauding but there was already just an excited atmosphere and he could just as easily pretend it was all for him.

Lisanna touched down gently next to Laxus, who looked down at her incredulously.

"Where the fuck have you been?"

Lisanna just shrugged, smirking up at him before tapping the side of her nose.

"That's our little secret, isn't it?"

Laxus sighed, about to say something more before his grandfather shouted that they were about to set sail, and his attention was taken up by laughing at Natsu as he was dragged almost screaming onto the boat by Lucy.

* * *

"Thirty-Four"

Droy looked over at Jet as the two of them stared at the horizon that the boat had disappeared over a long time ago. They had stayed in a comfortable silence, both sat on the edge of the dock as the rest of the guild had slowly filtered away and left them alone. Droy made a questioning noise, not really feeling like asking anything further.

"That's how old we're gonna be when she comes back this time."

Droy suddenly knew what he was talking about. It was a concern that had rippled around the guild in the last week, and it hadn't evaded those who were on the boat either. He didn't think either Makarov or Macao knew that he heard the two of them talking about provisions that would be made if the boat never returned. He didn't think he would ever be able to stay if Levy was gone for almost a decade _again_.

"It probably won't be…"

"We thought that last time, Droy. We thought it would be a week, tops. Then no longer than a month. Or a year. We were wrong then, and we can fucking be wrong again."

Droy didn't know what to say, looking down at the choppy waves in front of him as they hit into the side of the dock. Maybe they should have gone with her? But what was the chance of hiding on the boat with all the Dragon Slayers there? His hand moved over to where Jet's rested on the stone, encompassing it in his in what he hoped would be a comforting way. Jet simply squeezed his fingers for a second and didn't speak again.

* * *

 _ **A/N This chapter was so much fun! Starting out the trials, here we come! As always, we love your opinions, and your theories! Theories as to what is coming next sometimes even give us ideas, so keep them coming! Much loves!**_


	10. Chapter 10

Gray had given up being sociable within ten minutes of getting on the boat. Between Natsu throwing up his guts and the other Dragon Slayers laughing at him; and the girls all squealing and gossiping he had decided he needed to get away. It was still in the back of his mind that he would absolutely need to fight these people soon, and he had to clear his head.

He tried to go down into the belly of the ship but instantly ran into a wall of runes. He couldn't even see Freed around, but knew it must have been him that put up the barrier. Fuck knows what the nerd was doing down there that needed such secrecy. Makarov was locked in the office on top of the deck with most of the S-Class wizards, excluding Laxus who refused to join them for whatever reason, which left him with one choice.

Anyone else would have been bothered by the frigid temperature of the platform that he sat on, but being an ice wizard came in handy from time to time. It was on the back of the boat, far enough down that anyone looking over the side would have to lean over and stare straight down in order to see him. He took off his shoes and dangled his feet in the water, allowing the current to flow past him and cool his body down even further. Juvia was off somewhere doing… who knows what. Probably still talking to the girls up top. He would never admit it, but he kind of missed her. He would love to be spending this time on tactics, but it appeared that the water wizard had other ideas.

"Gray-sama?"

Gray was shocked out of his thoughts by a quiet voice, and lay back on the ice to look up at the person who had shouted his name. The first thing that he saw was soft blue hair falling in waves over the wood and a smile on her face.

"'Sup, Juvia."

Juvia waved down at him, and before she even spoke he knew he would be heading back up to her and talking to everyone else on the boat, just like she would want him. Well, at least he could possibly find something out that could help him. He allowed his platform on the back of the boat to grow, raising him up until he could stand on two feet and step back onto the boat. Juvia grabbed him up into a hug almost instantly, and he buried his nose into her hair.

"Do you at least realise you have me wrapped around your little finger?"

Juvia giggled into his chest, before pulling him away and back to the main body of the ship. It had started to heat up again the closer they got to the island, and he found himself stripping off more and more of his clothes as he went along, starting to think that this was definitely a disadvantage for the both of them. An ice wizard and a water mage fighting in blaring hot sunlight? How could that be called fair, in any sense of the word?

* * *

"Could you stay still for two fucking seconds?"

Gajeel groaned as Bickslow spun on the edge of the ship, folding his body in half so his hands clasped onto the railing before kicking his legs up backwards and over his head. He stayed upside down for a while, before he twisted on his hands and stared at Gajeel, his cape dropping down over the edge of the boat as his tongue lolled out of his mouth. The Dragon Slayer wasn't suffering from motion sickness right now, but watching the Sieth's constant motions in this heat was still insufferable. The man had retrieved a large bag full of creepy wooden dolls from the hold of the ship almost as soon as they had set off, handing it to Lisanna who had sighed but ultimately took it without any further protest so Bickslow could perform his show.

"What's the matter there, Rust Bucket? Worried in case I fall in?"

Bickslow shifted his body at an almost impossible angle so he was lying almost parallel to the water below before flexing his arms and bringing himself back up, just to prove that he could. A lot of things Bickslow did seemed to be just to prove that he could.

"I will be honest, never took you for a concerned type."

Gajeel groaned as he narrowed his eyes at the other man, noting the bright green glow that came from inside his mask. He was enjoying this far too much. The Dragon Slayer had already removed his shirt and changed his trousers for some swimming shorts that he had thankfully had the presence of mind to bring with him, but it was still getting more and more sweltering the closer he got to the island. How Bickslow was surviving in his normal, ridiculous clothing he would never know.

"Or maybe you're jealous that you don't have this kind of control over yourself? All of those muscles, they don't do you much for acrobatics, do they? Are you too heavy?"

The Sieth remained staring him in the eye as he lifted one arm up slowly, supporting himself solely on his left arm as he flipped the Dragon Slayer the bird, and Gajeel pretended not to notice Lisanna giggling behind him. He bit back a growl and made a quick decision, watching Bickslow as he swung himself around on the one hand. The guy could practically fly, right? Surely he was just testing either how good his balance was or how quickly he could get his babies underneath him, he was helping with training! The totems were currently just flying around the ship, annoying everyone they could. If he had to justify it to anyone he could always say he was helping out the whole ship.

He waited until Bickslow had started to lower himself down to lay perpendicular to the waves again, timing it perfectly to where he would have the least balance and shooting his right hand out, a long pillar of iron forming out of his arm to hit the Sieth square in the back. To his credit he managed to hold still for a few seconds, wobbling slightly and Gajeel thought he would be able to right himself before his elbow gave way and he fell off the side of the ship.

What the Dragon Slayer hadn't expected was that the high pitched shriek that erupted from the Sieth's mouth as he flailed into the water. The Dragon warned him of someone charging up from behind and he spun to the side, arms up to defend himself when he realized it was Lisanna rushing to the railing to look overboard.

"What the hell happened?!"

Laxus' shouts almost deafened Gajeel, and he had to fight to stop his hands covering his ears. The other Dragon Slayer was by Lisanna's side, pulling his shirt over his head as electricity started to spark off his skin. He was halfway over the railing before Evergreen grabbed him and pulled him back onto the ship. He sent daggers her way, and when she spoke it was with a calming cadence Gajeel had never heard from her.

"If you go in there right now you'll electrocute him. We need…"

She was cut off by Freed almost appearing by her side. He was moving remarkably fast as he burst out of the ship's hold, sprinting for the edge. He'd already shucked his coat, and he paused a moment at the rail as he tied his hair back.

"He was screwin' around on the rail an' I knocked his ass in the water. He should thank me, it's fucking hot up here!"

The Rune Mage's glare startled Gajeel a little, his right eye shifting colors in anger.

"He can't fucking swim!"

All of his anger melted away immediately at the other man's words flying back to him as Freed leapt from the ship after his teammate. Lisanna immediately dove after him, her legs becoming a tail as she shifted to her mermaid form. Gajeel stepped forward to move to the rail, but his momentum was immediately reversed, a shock going through his body.

"Hey, watch it!"

Natsu yelled as he pulled himself from his nausea to grab onto Lucy, shoving her out of the way moments before Gajeel slammed into him, Elfman seamlessly sidestepping as the two of them tumbled to the ground. The Iron Dragon Slayer growled as he pushed himself up, glaring across the deck at the blonde standing where he'd just been. Laxus' sides were heaving, sparks flickering across his skin, leaping between him and any metal within a few feet of him.

By this point everyone on the boat had appeared, either to offer help or watch the spectacle. Bickslow's totems had descended into unholy screaming, zipping around the ship in random directions as Mira tried desperately to round them up, shoving them into the hands of the other guild members to try and wrestle to keep them still. Gajeel could see Levy's hand at the ready beside her, charging up a protection spell. When she spoke her voice was quiet, the kind you would use to talk down someone on the edge of a tall building.

"Hey, Laxus, maybe we should calm…"

"You tell me why I should FUCKING calm down."

Lucy grasped onto Natsu's top as she watched the blonde man crowd over to Gajeel, sparks multiplying as he raised his voice. She hadn't ever seen him like this, helplessness transforming into pure rage on what had happened to the Raijinshuu. She had always assumed Laxus didn't have a weakness like the other Dragon Slayers, but now she was seeing that he had three.

* * *

Freed had no chance to keep up with Lisanna as she powered downwards through the water towards Bickslow. The man in question was flailing in complete panic, arms and legs moving completely independently of each other as he tried to claw himself back up, the water around him illuminated a bright green as his magic raged out of control. His clothes had soaked through with water now Freed had lifted the protective runes on them, and they were dragging him further and further down into the depths.

He grabbed onto Lisanna like a lifeline as soon as she pulled level with him. She wrestled with him for a moment, trying to drag him up before realising his struggling and waterlogged clothes were making it too difficult for her. She flashed a worried look over to Freed as he caught up to him and Freed responded with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Bickslow was still struggling, pulling Lisanna further and further down with each kick as he tried to get up to the surface in his panic.

The first thing to do was to deal with his magic. If he took the two of them over down here they would all be dead. Freed drew a quick rune across Bickslow's skin, making sure to channel it onto him solely as Lisanna unclasped his cape and let it bloom down through the water. As soon as she saw the light in the water dim down she unclasped his mask, pulling it away from his face and letting it plummet down.

Glancing up above her and weighing her options she knew she had no chance of getting back to the surface with even one of the men beside her, let alone both of them. Freed wouldn't be able to get up there on his own, they were too far down even though they had stopped sinking any further into the water. Bickslow was clasped onto the skin of her back, although at least he had stopped flailing around and Lisanna looked at Freed and pointed to her neck to indicate their need to breathe. She hoped beyond hope he had a rune to help with that.

Freed's face flashed in recognition, his hair floating up behind him and clothes billowing out from him as he moved his hand through the water with a purpose. The rune trap appeared quickly between them, and Bickslow spluttered as he took his first breath of air. He looked between the two of them gratefully, before Lisanna beckoned Freed closer to her side.

"I can't move the trap, I'm afraid. I can make it movable but it'll take a while and the ship will probably be at the island by then."

Bickslow whimpered, the idea of spending that much time underwater really didn't appeal. Lisanna looked down at where he was clinging to her and carded her hand through wet hair.

"Come on. Take a deep breath, I'm gonna try and get you both back up. You may need to… grab onto me."

Bickslow simply nodded, too afraid to even try to talk right now before filling his lungs with air. Both men wrapped arms around her waist and chest, Lisanna supporting them with arms under their shoulders before starting to pump her tail to shoot them up towards the surface as Freed kicked his legs in an attempt to help her out, if only a little. She felt Bickslow squeeze her tighter as they left the relative safety of the rune trap and reentered the cold water above them.

Her arms let go of the men as they neared the surface, prompting Freed to look at her in confusion as Bickslow simply buried his face in her side. The magic started to wrap around her arms even as she was still submerged, but waited until her shoulders were up and out of the water before they sprouted feathers and she was seamlessly in the air, and heading towards the ship which had by now floated a few hundred metres away.

Bickslow started coughing as soon as they got out of the water, but when Lisanna dropped them onto the deck he rose onto all fours and spluttered salt water onto the deck. His babies all screamed excitedly, and no one holding them had any chance of keeping them still as they all struggled to return to their Papa. Freed started to strip out of his wet clothes, debating whether or not he should waste any magic on drying them off with runes as Laxus ran over to the two of them, barely containing the worry that was etched on his face. Bickslow took a few deep shuddering breaths before looking up at Freed, and Lisanna watched as they had a fast unspoken conversation. Lily and Wendy hovered above them, the girl knowing that as soon as she landed she would be useless. Bickslow waved her away with one hand, assuring her that he could see to it himself.

Gajeel had tried to follow Laxus, the Dragon inside of him refusing to back down from the challenge that had been posed to him by the Lightning Dragon Slayer, but he was quickly interrupted by Juvia standing in his path, chest puffed out as she squared up to him. His Dragon noted an old friend, before he began to feel heavy rain drops fall across his skin. He watched in the background as Lily landed on the ship, instinctively covering his ears from the Thunder he expected to follow the sudden rain storm.

"What the fuck was Gajeel thinking?"

Her hands shoved at his chest before Gray grabbed her bicep to try and calm her down. Gajeel looked down at her and was torn between the pride he felt that she felt strong enough to square up to him and the anger that she had turned against him for a sin he was sure he hadn't committed. He opened his mouth to respond before he felt the familiar feeling of his stomach turning and he fell to his knees as his motion sickness overtook him.

He looked up to try and spot Levy despite the way his stomach was threatening to release its contents any second, and finally saw her stood at the other end of the ship, hand still raised from where she had dispelled the magic that had been helping him. The most obvious thing that he could see was the green glow that was surrounding her as she looked blankly off over the railing of the ship.

Erza watched as Levy stood perfectly still at the side of the ship before sighing and making her way over to where Bickslow still lay on the ground, grinning as he watched Gajeel groan in pain as he clutched his stomach.

"Bickslow… let her go."

The Sieth groaned, rolling onto his back and looking up at the woman.

"But why? He pushed me off a fucking boat. I'm not hurting her, and all she's gonna do is immediately help him out again."

"What do you expect? It's not like Gajeel has ever had any kind of impulse control."

Freed's voice was filled with sarcasm, and Erza was just about to open her mouth to keep arguing with him, but Gray appeared by her side and looked down at the Seith for the first time since he had gotten back on the ship.

"Where's your mask gone?"

Bickslow rolled his eyes, pulling his hands up to interlink behind his head as he looked up at Gray.

"As it turns out, a huge metal mask appears to be some kind of dead weight when you're being dragged underwater."

Gray sighed, Juvia rubbing his arm now she had calmed down slightly and the rain had stopped completely. She looked down at him, voice questioning him in a way that made it almost impossible for him to refuse to answer.

"Did Bickslow not bring a spare one?"

Bickslow sighed, flexing his abs to sit up and cross his legs in front of him, before pulling off his shirt and dropping it into a pile next to him.

"Surprisingly, I didn't expect to be pushed off a fucking boat. Why is no one getting that?"

Gray rolled his eyes back at Bickslow, trying to ignore the constant heaving noises that were now erupting from two Dragon Slayers at the same time.

"You can't do the trials without your mask, you'll just be taking everyone over all the fucking time! It's not fair!"

Gray wasn't expecting Lisanna to get in his face, squaring up against him as she stared at him in challenge.

"You do know that his eyes are a part of his magic too, right Gray? Shall we forbid Juvia from making it rain to get stronger too, hm?"

Juvia narrowed her eyes, and storm clouds started to roll in again. Lisanna looked back at her, eyes full of challenge as she made sure to defend Bickslow even if he didn't defend himself.

"That's enough!"

All movement on the boat stopped as Makarov's voice ran out, and everyone turned in sync as they looked towards him standing next to the wheel of the boat.

"Leave all of your fighting until we're on the island. We will be there in less than half an hour, if you children can keep it together for that long."

Everyone looked down in embarrassment, but Makarov hadn't finished.

"Bickslow, release Levy from your control. I will agree that your eyes class as a part of your magic and I won't forbid you from using them, if you don't want to."

Bickslow sighed, and in seconds Levy had dropped slightly, shaking her head in confusion as she tried to clear her mind.

"Gajeel, please refrain from pushing anymore of your guild members off the boat."

Gajeel simply groaned in response, incapable of articulating any further around the pain in his stomach as Levy rushed to his side and hurried to recast her spell. Makarov nodded, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at all of his children.

"Thirty. Minutes. Can you all play nicely until then?"

Everyone drifted off into their own respective corners of the boat, waiting for their arrival on Tenrou Island before they got started on the trials properly.

* * *

A hushed silence fell over the boat as the distinctive outline of Tenrou Island appeared over the horizon. Every single person on the boat was remembering what had happened the last time they had been there, and none of them were able to joke around about anything with that memory in their head. Once again the boat stopped a fair distance away from the island, the first trial actually getting to the island of their own volition.

"S-Class Nominees!"

Makarov had expected everyone to turn around to face him, but they were all still enraptured by the sight of the island in front of them. He couldn't blame them, really. No matter how many times he saw the island it still held a certain hypnotic quality about it.

"Every single one of us on this boat has been here before so I won't bore you with any preamble. If our current S-Class wizards could please make their way to the island?"

A wave of magical energy swept across the boat as all four of the S Class wizards took to the air. Mira's black wings unfurled from her back as she picked up Gildarts, and without another word they flew off towards the island. Laxus took one last look at his Thunder Legion, nodded to each of them before jumping into the air, his entire body turning into lightning as he overtook the two other S-Class wizards and bolted towards the island. Erza's body swirled with magic as she requipped into her Black Wing Armour, and followed the other three off the boat and towards the island. Everyone watched them go, collectively holding their breaths when they realised that four teams would have to fight them in the near future.

"The rules of the first round are slightly different this year."

Makarov's voice rang clear across the boat, as every member still present turned to look at him.

"The goal is to meet me at the base camp which is located in the same place as last year. This year there are nine paths. Two combat paths, four intense combat paths and finally one serenity route. Two teams will face each other, four teams will face one of our S-Class wizards and the final team will be allowed to pass without challenge."

Everyone nodded to each other, this was all very much the same as it had been the year before. The teams all gravitated towards the side of the boat closest to the island, each of them wanting even the small advantage a quick escape would supply.

"Without further ado, I would like to start this year's S-Class Trials!"

The first person to move was Natsu, already excited to get out of the boat and into the cool water beneath, hoping that it was going to relieve the churning in his stomach as quickly as possible. Grabbing onto Lucy he sprinted towards the edge of the ship, regretting it almost instantly as he ran straight into a barrier of runes.

"Oh for fuck's…"

Everyone spun around to look at Freed, smirking over at all of them before he swished his hand through the air and his eye flashed darkly as two runes flew from it. His wings unfurled from his back and he took to the air, with Cana following not long after on her own just as magnificent set of wings. She lurched a little bit as she tried to adjust to them, but quickly caught up with Freed as she got the hang of it.

Gajeel looked at Levy at almost exactly the same time as Elfman looked at Evergreen, and the two women immediately started to rewrite the runes. Lisanna sidled over to Bickslow, looking at him expectantly as he hoisted his bag of dolls over his shoulder.

"Hey, Bicks, did you want to start rewriting the runes?"

Bickslow looked down at her in confusion as his totems chattered in excitement around him.

"What makes you think that I would know how to rewrite the runes?"

Lisanna looked at him incredulously, as Levy broke through the runes and she jumped into the ocean below along with Gajeel and they started quickly heading towards the island.

"You're on a team with Freed just like Evergreen! You should know how to rewrite these runes like she does!"

Bickslow shrugged, sitting back down on one of the loungers while the others all swore about Freed's runes again.

"Just because I'm on a team with Freed doesn't mean I know how to do all of this bullshit."

Lisanna stood over him, crossing her arms as he rolled his eyes up at her.

"You knew he was going to do this, he did exactly the same fucking thing last year, why didn't you brush up on how to undo these!?"

Bickslow sighed, rolling his head back to look up into the sky as all of the totems huffed in annoyance around the two of them.

"I mean, you knew he was going to do this why didn't you learn how to rewrite them?"

Lisanna took a deep breath, about to start shouting at him before Gray threw his trousers at her in annoyance.

"Can you two just shut the fuck up? We're all in the same boat as you, literally, and you are just making this worse!"

Lisanna huffed, throwing herself down heavily onto Bickslow's lap and only protesting slightly when he wound his arms around her waist and tugged her down to lie more completely on top of him.

* * *

It was ten minutes later when the runes disappeared with a pop from around the boat, and there was a mad rush to get off the boat and head to the island. Natsu pulled Lucy off the railing where he had been pacing impatiently waiting for the runes to fall. The girl screamed as they hit the cold water, but was swimming towards the shore within seconds. Gray and Juvia followed not soon after, a bubble of water erupting around the two of them as Juvia started to power them both towards the island. Bickslow jumped onto his totems, the five small dolls screaming in excitement as Lisanna transformed her arms into wings and followed after him, the totems getting louder as they noticed they were being followed by others as well. Pantherlily took to the air about the same time, carrying Wendy over the waves and speeding up as they hoped to not be the last team onto the island and getting lumped with whatever the last path left open to them was.

Makarov smiled as he watched the last of the teams hit the shore, each running into their own path. He knew which path led where, of course, and he knew that the first round of the trials was shaping up to be the most exciting yet.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **Here comes the trials! Ignore Muddyevil, she's the one who is ahead of schedule, and I'm always scrambling to try and keep up with her amazing skills. As always, we love hearing your thoughts and theories on the chapters! Much loves!**


	11. Chapter 11

"Oh, come on! You've got to be kidding me!"

Natsu grinned excitedly, grabbing Lucy's hand to propel her faster into the clearing.

"I know! Isn't it great?! Who would have guessed we'd get to fight Laxus?!"

The blonde girl groaned, of _course_ he would be excited instead of terrified like a normal human.

"Can you remember what happened the last time you fought Laxus?"

Natsu grinned wider, not letting up his pushing for a second. Lucy knew that Laxus _had_ to know they were there, he was a Dragon Slayer after all.

"Yeah! I annihilated him!"

"Actually, that's not how I remember it…"

Laxus' voice boomed out across the clearing, but he didn't even bother to turn and face them. A little rude, maybe, but one hundred percent Laxus.

"I seem to remember it took you _and_ Rust Crotch to bring me down. After I'd already fought against Erza, Mystogan, filled the Thunder Palace _and_ tried to cast Fairy Law. In fact if Metal Prick hadn't taken that hit for you you wouldn't be here to tell your story right now."

Lucy squeaked and stepped behind Natsu, her hand clenching on the back of his jacket. He didn't even react to her, his grin becoming somewhat feral as he stared down the older Dragon Slayer. _Oh no… I need to get him out of here before the Dragon loses it._ She bit her lip, turning over ideas in her head as quickly as she could. She pressed against his back, stretching up so her mouth was just next to his ear, her words barely loud enough to be called audible.

"We just have to get past him, Natsu. We don't actually have to fight. Let me distract him we ca-"

"NO!"

The Dragon Slayer roared as he shook himself, pulling out of her grip. She blinked in shock, cursing as she realized her efforts had backfired, spurring the Dragon on instead of calming it.

"I don't need Metal Face. Or any of that other shit! I've gotten stronger, Luce. I can beat him! I've learned a lot, I remember facing Gildarts the last time. I'm not afraid."

She felt the heat in his gaze when he glanced back at her, but she could feel the intent behind his words too. He wanted to prove this to her as much as to himself. After everything, he needed this.

Laxus didn't seem to be too bothered by Natsu's outburst, still facing the other way although Lucy was sure he was still paying strict attention to what they were doing through his other senses.

"What was that, Blondie? You wanna run past me? Look up."

Lucy huffed, cocking out her hip as she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"You know you're literally blonde, right? You can't call me…"

"Look. Up."

Lucy let her eyes drift up beyond the canopy, before trying to withhold a gasp at what she saw. Laxus had erected another Thunder Palace around the clearing, what must have been forty small lacrima occasionally sparking off their electricity. They were essentially as trapped as they would have been facing Freed.

"You try and leave and I activate the palace. Remember you have more rounds to contend with after this, I only have this round so I can go all out."

The Celestial Mage dropped her gaze to Natsu again and found that he was still staring at her, as if he hadn't even had to look up at the magic Laxus was talking about. His whole focus was on her in that moment, and it floored her. He was fighting with every instinct he had, wanting to fight for the fun of the fight, but at the same time he was leaving the choice to her. He trusted that if she wanted to run still, he'd find a way to get them out safely. After a moment, she smiled, determination written across her face as her right hand dropped to her keys, her left clenching into a fist in front of her.

"Right, Natsu! Let's do this!"

Her partner whooped, whirling to face their opponent as flames licked up his arms, the Dragon inside loosing all control to his human. They'd chosen well with their mate.

Laxus grinned a toothy grin as he felt Natsu's magic intensify behind him. Oh, this was going to be fun. And no matter what the old man had said, he was going to go all out. Rolling his shoulders he let his ears strain for any movement coming from behind him. Let Natsu attack, see what good it did him. He noticed movement creeping to his right side, but it was just the girl, there wasn't much she could do without her spirits, and he'd hear her call them. He diverted the rest of his attention to the sound that he'd marked as Natsu, tracking the boy as he stepped in the other direction. _Ah, they're dividing their attack. Or the girl is hiding and he's trying to draw my attention away._

"So you just gonna stand there all day, Laxus? Or are you actually going to respect me enough to face me?"

The blonde Dragon Slayer's grin widened as he heard the sharp intake of breath from the other Dragon Slayer. He whirled to the left, expelling his own roar at the boy. The magic blasts met square in the middle of the clearing between the two men, both of them continuing to expel their breath as the power built. Finally the level was too much to be contained and there was an explosion in the clearing, lightning and fire arcing everywhere. The force blew the trees back, and both men threw their arms across their own faces, feet planted firmly on the ground. Laxus chuckled to himself as the blonde girl's shriek hit his ears.

"Is this getting too much for you, blo…"

His taunt was cut off as he turned to face her, immediately getting blasted by a column of sand. He'd already dropped his guard, so there wasn't much to keep him from flying backwards a few feet before hitting the ground, the sand continuing to slam into him. _The fuck?!_ When the earth finally stopped and his vision cleared, Laxus looked back across the clearing at the girl. She was standing next to that scorpion spirit of hers, the creature's arm around her shoulders. Obviously he was the only reason she hadn't gotten blasted from the clearing when the roars had overloaded.

"So you've learned to call them without speaking? Impressive."

Laxus grinned as he stood up. He may have underestimated them, but that just meant he could have some more fun. He started to laugh as he let the anger course through him, feeling the fabric of his shirt rip as his muscles grew and his skin turned to scales. It was time to see what kind of damage two dragons could really do.

Laxus stayed standing still. He was a huge advocate of letting your enemies tire themselves out, and there was no better example of that than Natsu Dragneel. The younger man grinned, baring his teeth as his own magic amped up through his body. He didn't grow scales of his own, but the flames dancing across his skin increased in heat to the point Laxus could feel them even at the distance they were apart. Every sense they each had was tuned to each other and Natsu's partner, Lucy still standing on the sideline with Scorpio. The spirit was bouncing on his feet a little, waiting for another opportunity to catch Laxus off guard.

After just a moment of the Dragons staring each other down, Natsu lunged forward, his right arm drawn back behind him, his left hand extended in front of him. He'd charged Laxus enough times that he was keeping a defense handy, but he was _going_ to land this first punch, he just knew it! Especially with that other plan..

Laxus still just watched as the other Dragon Slayer came nearer, prepared to step to the side and drop his fist onto the boy's head like he'd done so many times before. His Dragon growled at the waiting, still wound up from the danger to its humans on the ship. When Natsu was mere feet away, Laxus threw his right hand out to the side, catching the spirit that had been trying to get the drop on him. With a feral roar, the Dragon Slayer slung the body around by its throat, not even caring to see who it was before slamming them into the pink-haired boy in front of him.

Natsu yelled as he and Loke both went flying across the clearing, landing heavily in a pile at Lucy's feet. She lurched forward to help Loke up, the flames that were still on Natsu's skin too much for her to touch. Just as the men were getting to their feet, Lucy felt a hand snatch at the back of her shirt, pulling her away from them and spinning her towards the trees. She felt her hair stand on end and heard a loud crack as Scorpio wrapped his arms and his tail around her, his back to the other combatants.

After a moment she pulled against him, turning to see what had happened. Again, Laxus stood perfectly still in almost the exact same spot that he'd been when they arrived. Natsu and Loke were both laid out on the ground groaning, a scorch mark where they'd been standing before. She smiled over at Scorpio, nodding her thanks as she pulled Loke to his feet again. Natsu wasn't even fully standing before he was rocketing back across the clearing, a low growl in the back of his throat.

"He's not going to stop charging, Loke! He's too angry at this point… do what you can to help!"

The lion spirit nodded, clenching his fists as he raced after his fighting partner. There was a brief flurry of movement as the two threw punches at the S-Class Mage. Loke stumbled back at one point, shaking his arms out as if he'd been shocked when he made contact. Natsu didn't seem to be effected that much, but that could have been because of his fire, or because he'd gotten used to Laxus' shocks. _I mean, he can use the lightning sometimes, so he probably has some immunity._ Lucy looked back to her other spirit, cocking her head to the side and considering the way his armored tail had protected her from the shocks before.

"You pretty much only do ranged attacks, don't you? Would your gloves insulate you at all against the lightning?"

The scorpion shook his head, grinning a little.

"I don't think they'd help much, but I can keep you safe here if I need to."

Lucy nodded, turning her eyes back to assess how the fight was going. Loke and Natsu didn't seem to be making any ground at all, Laxus using them against each other more often than not. Lucy was beginning to see a flaw in their training method, in that the two had only fought against each other and not worked on team attacks very much at all. Well, she'd just have to step things up a bit then…

The Celestial Mage cast her eyes about the clearing, trying to find what she was looking for. Unfortunately it was so hot, there weren't really any puddles or anything, and the path they'd chosen didn't seem to have access to the river that she knew snaked around the island. Lucy groaned, pulling at her keys once again.

"Oh great… I'm going to have to use my water skin… she's going to hate me."

"Wait, Lucy do-"

She grabbed Aquarius' key, squeezing her eyes shut and sliding it into the mouth of her waterskin before Scorpio could say anything else. There was another roar, but she knew instinctively that it wasn't either of the Dragon Slayers across the clearing. She'd heard that particular sound enough times in her life.

"Really?! Are you stupid?! You actually… no, you know what? Fine!"

The water spirit lifted her jar, starting to sling it around as water gushed out, not even caring who all she was dousing. The wave hit Lucy and Scorpio first, knocking them both out of the clearing and into the trees. The scorpion hooked his tail into a tree and snatched the blonde as she was washed past him, helping her get her head above the water. The wave kept coming, flooding the clearing more than it should have been able to, but hey, magic. The Dragon Slayers were both slammed at full force, knocking them into the ground as Loke was thrown into the air.

The wave finally settled down, still covering the ground with about a foot of water. Natsu groaned as he shoved himself off the ground, looking down to notice that his flames had been extinguished. He clenched his fists, yelling as the fire erupted on his skin again, and his onyx eyes settled back onto Laxus. Scorpio leapt from the tree they were on, splashing back into the clearing and setting his owner back onto the ground before turning to try and appease his girlfriend.

All movement in the clearing stopped as Laxus started to cackle from where he still lay in the water. Lifting his head he looked past the other assembled bodies straight at Aquarius, and grinned in a way Lucy hadn't seen since before his banishment.

"Thanks, babe."

Aquarius had already started to blush as Laxus slowly raised a hand out of the water, pointing it to the sky and snapping his fingers.

The clearing was bathed in yellow as the Thunder Palace activated, the entire island trembling at the crash the electricity produced as it hit the water below, instantly evaporating the last of the liquid left lying on the ground. Lucy's ears rang at the proximity of the explosion, her eyes screwed shut as her hands tried and failed to block out the noise. Her head was spinning, but soon enough she could hear Laxus' booming laughter echoing through the trees. Was this it? Had they been knocked out?

"Is it over? Is what she says."

Horologium stood calmly in the clearing with Lucy safely inside, his arms hanging at his sides. Scorpio was unwrapping his tail from around his torso, glaring over at Aquarius, who had just realized that her boyfriend was there and had been hit by her water. A moment later it dawned on her that his anger was maybe related to Laxus' blatant flirting that she hadn't brushed off. He glared at her another moment before spinning on his heel and storming off into the trees. Lucy felt the pull on her magic stop a moment later as he returned to the Spirit World.

"Wait, Babe! Scorpio!"

Aquarius wailed as she also disappeared, and Lucy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Perfect timing for her spirits to have relationship problems. She pressed her face against the glass of the chamber she was sat in, trying to locate the rest of her team. Loke had come through of his own accord, so she couldn't tell if he was still around, but she thought she remembered seeing him thrashing around after Aquarius had shown up and flooded them. Not her best plan, if she was honest with herself. She shook her head before she started dwelling on all of the mistakes that they'd made so far and continued searching for Natsu. Her eyes skated over Laxus who was still laying on the ground laughing, small sparks dancing across his chest and arms.

As she finally caught sight of her Dragon Slayer, Lucy groaned, seeing him breathing heavily as he struggled to roll onto his back. She whipped her head back as she realized Laxus' laughter had stopped and saw the blonde stalking closer to her partner.

"Laxus, stop! He's down! Is what she yells."

The Lightning Dragon Slayer ignored the spirit's monotone voice, baring his teeth in a feral grin, his Dragon thrilled with the violence they were unleashing. Even if these weren't the ones who'd threatened his people, they'd been around and done nothing. Lucy frantically scrambled for her keys once again, hoping her plan worked long enough to get away.

Laxus knew that his Dragon was showinggrin was feral, but he didn't care. Lightning was rushing through his veins, he hadn't felt this high in a long time. The boost of the lightning from the water had recharged him and he clenched and unclenched his fists as he stared down at Natsu still lying on the floor. The other Dragon Slayer looked worse for wear, some of his clothes singed off not from his own flames but from Laxus' lightning, and he still occasionally twitched. The girl was right. He was down, he didn't need to fight anymore. But he wasn't bothered with reason. He wanted to have _fun_. He felt the lightning charge in his muscles, sparking around him and filling the air with static.

"Laxus! Please!"

That voice. It cut straight through his anger, right into his heart. Laxus froze, turning in place to lock eyes with one of the only three people who could have stopped him in that moment.

Freed looked… bad. Laxus couldn't imagine who could have done that much damage to him, outside of other members of his own team. That was wrong. The Raijinshuu should have never turned on each other, but he guessed it was the rules of the test. If Freed had come up against Evergreen or Bickslow…

His clothing was torn, hair loose and wild around his bloodied head. His right eye was pitch black, in too much pain for his magic to keep in control but then he should be…

No. Something wasn't right. He didn't _smell_ right for a start. If it was really Freed the Dragon inside of him would have felt him coming from a mile away. His magic would have been out of control, sending out dark ecritures by the dozen if his eye was shining like that. But of course, the whole point of it wasn't to distract Laxus for long…

At that moment, the floor dropped out from underneath the Dragon Slayer, literally this time. He fell about fifteen feet, the hole in the ground shooting straight down, just big enough for him to fit. His ears caught a voice above him as his Dragon slammed against his restraints. He'd been tricked, and now they were running away. He began to claw up the walls, too angry and caught up trying to contain the beast to change to his lightning body.

"We must hurry, Princess. It will not contain him for long unless you'd like me to bury him alive."

Lucy shook her head as she burst out of Horologium, sliding to a stop next to her partner. She laid a hand against Natsu's cheek to let him know she was there, hoping the Dragon would catch her scent and stay calm so he didn't panic and hurt her spirits. He twitched again, a small shock jumping into her hands from his skin, making her squeak. His eyes snapped open for a moment, his slitted pupils barely more than a line as his hand flew to latch onto her wrist.

"Shh, shh, it's just me. We've gotta go. Come on, stay calm."

She leaned down quickly, closing her eyes as she pressed her forehead against his, forcing herself to stay calm. Natsu continued staring at her for a few seconds, the sounds of Laxus clawing at the ground getting louder. He finally dropped his hand, his eyes closing again and Lucy jumped back to her feet. Her pink haired spirit bent to scoop the Dragon Slayer into her arms and they took off out of the clearing. Gemini stayed where they were, ready to leap in front of their opponent to slow him again if necessary.

As soon as the women were into the woods on the other side of their battleground, the spirit wearing the face of Freed disappeared. Moments later, Laxus propelled himself out of the ground, standing in the middle of the clearing with his hands balled into fists, his sides heaving as he struggled to calm down. The predator inside only saw fleeing prey, but he knew he was supposed to leave them be if they'd managed to get past him. Taking a few gulping breaths, he threw his head back, loosing a roar into the sky.

* * *

 **A/N - WOOHOO! The trials have begun! This chapter was WAY too much fun to write! As always, we hope you love it, and we'd love to hear from you about your theories as to who is next and what's going to happen!** **Much loves!**


	12. Chapter 12

"Can you see who it is?"

Lisanna was crouched behind a bush on the pathway they had picked, holding three of the totems in her arms as she tried to keep them still. Bickslow was up on his knees, peeking out through the leaves and using his soul sight to scout out the way ahead of them. He was wearing nothing but trousers, the rest of his clothes either lost to the ocean or left on the ship as they were yet to dry out.

"I can… but you're not going to like it."

Lisanna sighed. Welp, it was obviously a S-Class then. It was just their luck to run up against one so early in the trial. But, there was still hope.

"Is it at least Mira or Laxus? Maybe they'll go easy on us?"

Bickslow shook his head, still staring out down the path and squinting slightly to get as much information as possible. But she still had a chance. She had been close with Gildarts when she was younger, and he had once told her after a few too many beers that he was sorry he couldn't be there to help her in her past. Plus, Natsu had said he hadn't actually had to beat him, just show him that he was capable of being an S-Class wizard…

"Gildarts?"

Bickslow's lips were set in a thin line as he replied.

"Nooope."

Lisanna sighed heavily. It looked like they were going out in the first round after all.

"Oh, we are so fucked."

* * *

Erza stood still in the centre of the clearing, eyes closed as she tried to discern any movement coming from around her. Although many of the teams that were heading towards her may have ploughed directly at her, there were one or two who may try to skirt around the sides. She knew that the master had left it vague enough - "You need to get to the base camp" - to allow competitors to try and be stealthy but she wasn't allowing them to do it easily.

She heard the rustle of bushes behind her, which was odd. Whoever it was had managed to sneak past fine, but had decided to attack her anyway. Had they not figured out they didn't technically have to fight? She requipped a sword into her hand and spun, using the flat of the blade to block the person's attack without even looking.

The force of the attack, along with the fact the girl was already off balance from her advance meant Lisanna toppled easily, scraping across the ground and kicking up dust. She was already in her cat form, and Erza bit back a smile when she realised cats didn't always land on her feet.

"It will be good to see how you've improved in the last year, Lisanna."

Lisanna groaned, standing to her feet and preparing to fight again. Glancing around she tried to spot Bickslow, but there wasn't any sign of him. She wasn't too surprised he wasn't anywhere close, it wasn't a secret he wasn't the best at hand to hand combat and facing her would be suicide. But the lack of any of his babies… that was surprising. Was he making Lisanna to fight all by herself? That in itself wasn't terribly surprising. He wasn't above skulking around and letting his teammates do all of the fighting. But there had to be a reason Lisanna had still attacked, even though she'd gotten around the clearing. Maybe he wasn't able to sneak past?

"Where is your partner, Lisanna? I cannot condone him leaving you to fight alone just because he's afraid of me."

Lisanna didn't answer, standing back up to her feet and preparing to attack again. Erza held her sword in her hand. Let her come then. Lisanna sprung forward, bringing her right hand up to swipe across Erza's arm where it lay unprotected. She tried to bring her sword up to block it, but it was suddenly heavy, refusing to move from it's position in front of her face. The moments confusion let Lisanna's attack hit, forcing her to hiss at the sharp claws and jump backwards away from the threat. She swore she heard her sword giggle but… oh. She could see what they were doing.

"Nice going, Poppo. You couldn't stay quiet for two seconds longer could you?"

Her sword made a sad noise at Lisanna's words, before wrestling itself out of her grasp. Lisanna was different now, a green glow surrounding her and it dawned on Erza just what Bickslow was doing. He was off on the sidelines, using Lisanna as a puppet and he was the puppet master. But what would the point in that be?

She got her answer with Lisanna's next attack. She had always been quick, but this was something else. Adding to that the sword moving seemingly in tandem, and Erza barely had time to summon another sword to her hand to defend with. The metal clashed together loudly, and Erza shoved back with the blade in her hand to knock the other one away. Or at least, she tried to. This one resisted her also, but she didn't waste more than a moment trying to move it. It would be a waste of energy and a futile effort, so she let go, leaping back as she summoned another sword.

Lisanna followed her closely, the two swords flying next to her as she rushed Erza. The S-Class wizard drew yet another blade, feinting an attack at the girl, throwing the blade at her chest. She was already calling up two more swords, one in each hand, not concerned about the one she threw. She knew at this point that Bickslow wouldn't let anything happen to his partner. _That's five.._ To try and slow them down, Erza thrust the last two blades that she had summoned into the ground, hoping he'd keep them there instead of moving them to the newest blade. She and Lisanna had kept up a sort of pacing circle as she went through these steps to neutralize the spirits as weapon, Erza easily walking backwards and Lisanna matching her steps. The redhead smirked as she saw the swords that she'd jammed into the ground wiggling to try and free themselves.

She summoned another sword, watching as the two remained moving, remained possessed. She blocked another attack with the blade, and watched as for the first time in the fight Lisanna stumbled, missing a beat. Erza used it to her advantage, trying to bring the sword around to counter attack but to no avail. It confused her, sure, but didn't force her to pause for as long as she brought her foot around to collide with Lisanna's lower back. The girl looked like she was going to go sprawling, but in a display of acrobatics Erza had never seen from the younger girl before she landed on her hands, before springing up to land on her feet again. Erza took advantage of the momentary pause to try and pull on her sword, running a count of the weapons that she had out already. _Six… how are there six?_ He hadn't abandoned any of the other blades, that was confirmed when they all started racing after her.

There was no way to know how many he could take control of, if he'd already exceeded the five spirits he normally had. Maybe all of those extra totems that he'd brought had contained some hidden souls. She had a quick debate with herself to decide if calling up more swords would be beneficial or not, and then Lisanna was charging at her again. With a determined grin, Erza waved her right hand out to the side, dismissing all of her swords and immediately balling her fist, throwing it forward at her attacker.

"Very good, to find a way to use my weapons against me. Unfortunately for you, I don't need them."

Lisanna looked terrified for a moment, but her body kept moving, dodging the fist and trying to throw a punch to Erza's stomach. Erza bent around it, if they were going hand to hand she would have to up her own speed… She swung her hand around, smacking Lisanna's arm wide and leaping back a few feet. As she did, the redhead called her magic to her, feeling new armor wrapping around her body. She felt the ears of her Flight Armor settle into her hair, felt the breeze reach her skin, felt the magic course through her limbs. She smiled a little and lifted her hands up in a defensive stance, nodding to the younger girl.

"Whenever you're ready."

The first blast caught her off guard. She'd never expected any of Bickslow's totems to be stealthy, but they had managed to build up a Baryon Formation behind her and it exploded across her back in a blossom of pain. She rolled forward with the momentum, coming up on one knee just in front of Lisanna. Throwing a jab at the girl's stomach, she came up onto her feet, her right fist coming in to strike at her jaw. Lisanna's hands flew to block the first attack, but that left her a little hunched over so the uppercut hit her square, snapping her head back and making her stumble back a few feet. By the time she shook her head clear, Erza was up and running at her, determined to stay close to her. Lissy could see the wisdom of that, really. The babies would be hesitant to attack when Erza would just have to shift to the side and let them take Lisanna out for her.

"You're out here doing all this work and Bickslow isn't doing anything, how's that making you feel?"

Bickslow scoffed from the tree he was stood in, way out of view of Erza and her attacks but still watching the scene in front of him. His hands cut through the air like a conductor, mind racing as he fought to control all five of his babies and Lisanna in tandem. He got it wrong, once or twice, but Lisanna didn't seem to mind as much as he did. Was it fair that Erza thought it was being lazy? No, probably not, but he couldn't afford the cognitive process to think that through right now.

Lisanna jumped, landing squarely on Pappa and Peppe and flying up into the air to vault over Erza's attack as the remaining three totems tried to get a clear shot on the redhead. Maybe if he added more targets to the mix…

Slowly he crouched, never taking his eyes off the scene in front of him as he grabbed another doll. Throwing it up into the air he winced as he pulled one of Lisanna's animal souls out of her body, making sure she was far enough away that the sensation didn't cause her to be hit, and shot it through into the doll. This was more difficult, and he started to sweat as he added it to the battlefield. Erza wouldn't know that this particular totem couldn't attack with a beam, all he needed to do was make it look like it was moving with the others as he bent down to grab another doll.

Not to be left on the ground, Erza leapt into the air, grabbing at the closest totem. Of course it wouldn't cooperate for her like it was Lisanna, but it would be all the extra lift that she needed. Before the doll could start lurching around, Erza swung her feet a few times, launching herself at Lisanna feet first. The two totems that the Take Over mage was standing on dropped a few feet, making Erza's assault go high, but the older woman simply spun in the air, twirling like a dancer. As she soared over Lisanna's head, she dropped her arms, grabbing the girl's shoulders and pulling her to the ground with her. She noted an extra totem flying around the clearing, but couldn't tell where it had come from.

As they fell to the ground, Erza wrapped her arms tighter around Lisanna's easily overpowering the girl's struggles. They twisted as they fell the last foot, and landed on their sides, a shock shooting through Erza's arm at the impact, although she didn't let go. Lisanna hissed, her hands clawing at the arms restraining her, but Erza just tightened her grip. The younger woman planted a foot, shoving off the ground to roll so she was laying on top of her opponent before lifting her feet into the air and slamming them down onto the redhead's thighs. Erza cried out, her voice directly in Lisanna's sensitive ears making her wince a little, even as she readied to do it again, willing to do anything to break free. She noticed that Bickslow had given her most of her control back at the moment, and she smiled a little, realizing that she did actually have more experience in this sort of fight. Having wrestling matches with her siblings had been for more than just fun.

Her second kick was enough to make Erza throw her off, both women leaping to their feet. There wasn't much of a hesitation in either before they were coming together again, Erza throwing her left arm up to block Lisanna's punch, immediately following it with one of her own. Lisanna moved easily to the side, her movement continuing into a spinning kick, her aimed at her opponent's ribs. Even as fast as Lisanna was in her cat soul, Erza saw the move coming and caught her leg, huffing a small breath out at the impact. She threw a solid punch at the inside of Lisanna's thigh, the smaller girl not having much in the way of defense in that moment. She was surprised however, when her fist collided with a wooden block, pain shooting up her whole arm. The shock was enough for Lisanna to pull her leg free, easily slipping into a backflip that landed her ten feet away, three of Bickslow's totems hovering in front of her to act as a shield while she caught her breath.

Lisanna's chest heaved. Well, this never was gonna be an easy fight. She watched Erza, the other woman not looking half as bad as Lisanna felt, and swore internally. She was getting too tired, too fast.

 _Lissy. Scorpion. Need armour._

The girl's face set in determination as she processed through what her partner was telling her. Before she could get much thought into it though, the babies started shrieking and whistling, the word "Scorpion!" being echoed by five voices around the clearing. She shook her head, unable to do anything but laugh at their enthusiasm before laughing and yelling out, "I KNOW!"

Erza simply watched this whole thing, taking a moment to slow her breathing. Sure, that let her opponent do the same, but Lisanna needed it more than she did anyway. Letting her have a moment wouldn't hurt. She glanced around at the ground when the noise began, having thought that she heard someone shriek about a scorpion. She wasn't overly concerned about one being in this region of the island, but being diligent was never a bad idea.

A crash filled the air, a roaring boom that must have been audible across the island. Lisanna screamed, clutching her hands to her more sensitive ears as Erza looked up to the sky. Suddenly the ground shook, forcing Erza to rebalance herself as Lisanna toppled to the side. She couldn't see any smoke, or any sign of an attacker, nevertheless she was still on her guard.

"What was…"

Erza's sentence was cut off by a whoop of jubilation coming from the trees, followed by a familiar voice.

"Fucking Thunder Palace! Laxus is over there kicking some arse! Man I feel sorry for whatever poor fuck just felt that."

Erza grinned and didn't waste a moment, pushing her magic through her body as she called out her Heaven's Wheel armor and all of the swords that came with it. She threw her right hand towards the sound of Bickslow's voice, willing her swords to move at him. She hoped he'd be too caught up in his excitement to be able to defend against them. There was a sound of several wooden thunks as her swords impaled the tree the Sieth was in and a few around him, paired with an inhuman shriek.

"FUCK ME! WHO HURT YOU IN THE PAST?!"

As the women peered into the shade of the trees, they could see the man with his arms and legs splayed out, swords under each arm and above each shoulder. His shorts were pinned in several places, but it was the dagger that was embedded in the tree almost to the hilt that had probably elicited the scream, its placement would have made any man scream. Lisanna couldn't help but smirk, a gesture that she regretted almost instantly when Erza whipped around, leg kicking back behind her and aiming for her chest. She managed to get her arms up in time, Erza's foot hitting the armour plating that now ran across her skin and sending painful shockwaves through her arms and upper body.

"Fuck. _FUCK."_

Erza had figured it out. With Bickslow's concentration broken, one of the dolls had dropped to the floor with the other five now taking to screaming and flying around randomly as they fed off his panic. It also meant Lisanna was on her own. All of her energy went to blocking Erza's frenzied attacks, two more to her arms, one to the outside of her thigh where she didn't have any plating and uncountable to her tail when she did manage to bring it around in time. Erza's attacks were faster now, hits coming more frequently and being blocked less and less. Bickslow's voice came from the trees, but Lisanna couldn't afford to look up at him, she was losing enough ground as it was.

"Erza!"

She didn't stop. It wasn't at all malicious, Lisanna knew that. Erza was just showing the power of an S-Class wizard, and just how far Lisanna was away from that power.

"Erza please you have to stop!"

Bickslow's voice was closer now, as if he had gotten free and was heading over to them. Erza didn't pay him any mind. A couple more hits and Lisanna would be out, and she could focus all of her attention on the Sieth. A well aimed strike to the stomach had Lisanna buckling over, wind knocked out of her.

A body crashed into Erza's back, bare arms wrapping around her and she immediately started to struggle to break free. Bickslow was closer than she had anticipated, and she'd made a mistake. She prepared to flip him over his head, but he panted in her ear. He sounded scared.

"Please; you can't hurt the baby."

Erza froze. That last kick to the stomach had been fierce. Why had they agreed to do the trials with Lisanna in that condition? Lisanna looked shocked, more than she should from just the hit, and it dawned on her that _maybe she didn't know_.

Her thoughts were stopped by the incredibly fast movement of Lisanna's tail, stinger snapping forward and sinking into her skin between her ribs. It didn't hurt, to start with, but the low ache of poison started to spread through her chest quickly. She felt her body go limp as she collapsed back into Bickslow's arms, before her mind started to go fuzzy.

Lisanna moved quickly, helping Bickslow lower Erza to the floor and feeling her forehead. The poison hadn't acted this quickly with Laxus, but then she supposed he hadn't been exerting himself and he was a whole lot bigger than Erza.

"Bickslow, where's the antivenom?"

The Sieth sprinted back towards the trees, around the swords that he had pulled out of his clothes to get free and grabbed the bag he had bought with him. Rustling through it he grabbed one of the potions Kinana had given them before they left, and returned to Erza's side.

She didn't look good. Black veins were apparent on her skin, inching their way over her chest and up towards her face. He slipped the cap off the needle, kneeling down beside her before stopping.

"What are you doing?"

Lisanna's voice was panicked, eyes blown wide in fear as she watched the girl in her arms slip slowly into unconsciousness. Bickslow held his jaw firm, turning Erza's face to look into his eyes.

"Tell us we can go forward first."

Lisanna gasped, not expecting Bickslow to do this. They didn't have time, the poison was…

"Bickslow! You can't… she's…"

"We beat you! We beat you and now you need to let us through to the next round."

Erza's nod was almost imperceivable, and Bickslow took it as a yes. He plunged the needle down into the wound, slowly pressing the plunger as the sickly green liquid inside entered her body. Erza gasped a little at the pain, Bickslow's bedside manner left much to be desired, but clenched her fists through it.

"We''ll need to get her back to base camp, we can't leave her here."

Lisanna nodded, transforming back into her human form and shooing away the babies that had started to gather around.

"Erza, did you want to let Bickslow take you over, he could walk you…"

Erza shook her head viciously, brain still not letting her form words. Lisanna looked shocked at the violent reaction, but Bickslow just smiled sadly.

"I'll carry you, don't worry. Lissy, can you grab my bag and the spare totems? I think I might need them later."

Lisanna nodded, and Bickslow slid his arms under the back of Erza's shoulders and hooked under her knees in order to lift her up. Her head lolled against his shoulder, still unable to move much.

"You'll be paralysed for a couple of hours even with the antivenom, I'm sorry. It was the best Kinana could do."

Lisanna's voice drifted into her ear from behind Bickslow as all three of them started to head towards the base camp, Bickslow's totems drifting around them lazily. There were only five again now, and she made a mental note to make sure she asked him more about them in case she ever came up against him in the future.

"Hey, Bickslow?"

She watched as the man looked down at Lisanna, walking by the side of him and occasionally laying a cool hand on her head.

"Why on Earthland did you tell her I was pregnant!? That's how rumours get started you know, and yes I know you love starting rumours but if you could keep from spreading them about us…"

If Erza could have rolled her eyes then she could have done, but she was still too paralysed to move her eyes just yet. Bickslow shrugged, squashing her to his chest as he did.

"It's not my fault! I panicked, and Evergreen said it worked with Mira last time!"

Erza sighed deeply, and Lisanna made sure to check on her but she wasn't doing it out of pain. She was doing it out of knowing that it was a ten minute walk to the base camp, and the whole time she would have to be listening to their incessant chatter.


	13. Chapter 13

Levy's stomach dropped into her feet when the Dragon Slayer next to her suddenly stilled. He'd been clenching and opening his fists since they'd landed on the shore, eagerly striding down the path they'd chosen. He'd tried sniffing around at the entrance to a few of the trails, but apparently the S-Class mages hadn't started at the beginning of the paths like they were. Which made sense, most of the teams had someone who would be able to track by scent and try to make their choice that way. At one point, Gajeel had been almost bouncing with each step, excited for their upcoming fight.

While she was honored that he trusted her ability that much, Levy had found herself crossing her fingers that they would get the tranquility path again. She'd started relaxing; they'd been walking forever without coming across any opponents. The Script mage had even felt a little bad for her partner, watching him become restless as they continued without contest. But then, he stopped. No warning, no hand signals to tell her there was a monster nearby, nothing. Just stopped dead. She noticed that the wind blowing through her hair had changed, and assumed he'd caught someone's scent.

"Gajeel? What is it?"

He was prepared. He'd trained her in tactics for every team they could come against, and he was eager to fight Laxus, Natsu, and even Erza. So who could have made him freeze like tha- oh, no. Levy groaned as she put all of the pieces together. She rested her hand against the Dragon Slayer's back as they both started forward, moving down the last few yards into a clearing.

"Gajeel, we didn't have a word for Gildarts! I don't know what to do!"

Red eyes turned to meet hers, holding her gaze for just a moment before he took a deep breath, shaking himself slightly as a grin started to split his face.

"Yeah, Shrimp. I know. But battle plans never last past the first encounter anyway, yeah?"

She bit her lip, already pouring through all of the words that she knew she could turn into an attack. Most of them would be useless, he'd simply break them apart. Even if Gajeel kept him engaged enough that they'd hit, she ran the risk of hitting her Dragon Slayer. _Shit… how did we forget Gildarts?_

"Why didn't we just sneak around, Gaj? It's not like he's got the enhanced senses…"

Levy knew it was too late now, but she couldn't resist whining at the man as she faced such a powerful opponent. She'd never been the one to rush into fights, or to fight much at all unless she had to. The bluenette shook herself, still staring down the tall man next to her. There was nothing for it. She was nominated as S-Class for a reason. There had to be a logical solution.

Gildarts, for his part, didn't look bothered at the two standing in his clearing. Of course, none of the candidates were a threat to him, but he'd been hoping for someone other than Natsu, so this was nice. Not that he minded thrashing the boy, it was just a good change up to teach other people a lesson. Who knows? Maybe this pair could provide a challenge. They were probably one of the teams who would work together the best, if you really thought about it. He was glad it wasn't Cana, too. He knew he'd have to be impartial, but just didn't know if he was physically capable of that. At least this way it wasn't going to be an issue.

Levy tapped Gajeel's arm and motioned for him to lean down so she could whisper something in his ear. He started to grin as she outlined her plan and nodded to her. Gildarts still stood in the middle of the clearing, his cape draped over the metal side of his body. It would bloody hot if he let the sun hit it too much. He watched his opponents, figuring it was only fair to let them get a sort of battle plan set up, not that it was going to do them a whole lot of good. The tiny Script Mage kissed her Dragon Slayer on the cheek and stepped away from him, pulling a pen from her pocket. The raven haired man grinned a little wider and started walking towards the S Class man across the clearing, stretching his arms alternately across his body.

"I've heard a lot about ya from the Salamander, old man. This'll be fun."

Gildarts grimaced, kicking a stone by his feet.

"Did you have to go with the "old man" comment? It's not like I can control my age."

Gajeel threw his head back laughing as scales started crawling over his skin. Hopefully they would help a little as this fight progressed. He stopped about ten feet away from the older man, tilting his head to look his opponent over. Of course Gildarts was still just standing there. He wasn't one to put in more effort than was absolutely necessary in this sort of situation. Growing impatient, and slightly insulted that he didn't seem to be worth Gildarts' effort, Gajeel growled and drew back his right arm.

"Iron Dragon's Club!"

He threw his arm forward, a thick metal pole shooting down his arm and extending towards the other man. It raced forward, crossing the distance between them in mere seconds, but it wasn't fast enough. Gildarts just grinned, throwing up his right arm as a flash of magic left his body. Gajeel's eyes widened as the iron started to break into pieces.

"What the- SHIT!"

He immediately dispelled his magic, instead of pulling the metal back into himself. Gildarts' magic was fast enough that he almost lost his arm as well. The pieces of iron fell to the ground, heavy clunks sounding through the clearing as squares of metal crashed together and embedded themselves in the dirt. _Well there's a lot of wasted magic.._

In the short time that this encounter took, Levy had begun writing an intricate rune trap that she was unfortunately very familiar with. Her gaze kept flicking back to the men as Gajeel charged forward, deciding to test out the older man's strength without wasting any more of his iron. Gildarts was easily blocking and deflecting each strike and Levy started to worry as she finished the words she was writing. _This will help…_ As she finished the trap, she saw both men stagger, and bit her lip. Gajeel was used to this, he should recover quicker and… Even as this thought went through her mind, both men straightened, their breaths short.

"What the hell was that?!"

Gildarts whirled to look at the giant tree that was the focal point of the island and source of power for the Fairy Tail members on this island, remembering what had happened the last time they'd been here. The tree was fine and still standing and when he looked back to Gajeel, he realized the Dragon Slayer was smirking, no surprise in his expression at all. His mind was racing and then he remembered the things he'd been told about the guild's recent fight, and the rune trap that Levy had devised. Sure enough, when he searched the clearing for the small woman, she was kneeling with her pen still in hand, runes glowing in the dirt in front of her.

"Well then. That's an advantage you two have, for sure… over most people."

At that point he smiled brightly, finally actually moving himself. He took two quick strides forward, closing the gap that was between him and Gajeel, drawing back his right arm and hurtling it forward at his face. Gajeel's eyes widened and he lurched to the side, his own arm coming forward at Gildart's stomach. They resumed their sparring, each throwing powerful punches and kicks, although Gildarts was more than just blocking this time around. Levy cursed under her breath, realizing that she'd just expended a lot of magic for no reason. Of course Gildarts wasn't going to be as affected by this trap. Yes, his magic was insanely powerful. But he'd have to be pretty powerful himself to be able to contain and wield such a magic, wouldn't he?

She left it for now, moving herself to a different part of the clearing, mind racing for something else to use against the man. She worked her way around behind him, an idea forming in her mind. While his back was still to her, her pen whipped through the air, writing the word "Hole" and tossing it to the ground. The word raced across the ground towards the two men, the O widening as it went. Gajeel saw the word coming at them and leapt to the side, rolling as he hit the ground and coming up to his feet, breathing a little heavily. Gildarts had spun to see what was coming that had made Gajeel run, just as the letters slid under his feet, and he fell into the hole under his feet with an amusing yell. Levy bit back a laugh as she moved away. They'd talked about how she shouldn't stay still in any one spot as she used ranged attacks, in case their opponent tried to blindly attack the last place they'd seen her.

It had only been a temporary move, she never expected it to keep him for long, just wanted to give Gajeel a respite. He smiled over at her, waving a hand towards the rune trap around them. She nodded, knowing he wanted her to dispel it and did so, watching him close his eyes and take a few slow breaths as the Dragon raged to the surface for a moment. It was never happy after she found a way to disable its hold on her mate. About the same time that he opened his crimson eyes, there was an explosion in the ground where Gildarts had fallen. A sort of ramp was now there and he walked up it calmly, a strange look on his face.

"You two think outside the box, I'll give you that. But this isn't over yet!"

He locked eyes on Levy and started towards her instead, even though he knew he wouldn't get far before Gajeel stopped him. Sure enough, he'd only made it about three steps when the Dragon Slayer charged at him, attempting to tackle him. He stopped suddenly, watching the raven haired man go flying by, grinning a little at the growl that erupted from his throat as his caught himself. Gildarts didn't give him much time to recover before he threw a low hook at the Dragon Slayer with his left arm. He'd planned to hit him in the stomach or chest as he pushed himself to standing, but that wasn't how it happened.

Instead, Gajeel wrenched his body to the side, allowing Gildarts' arm to pass in front of him, wrapping his arms around the metal appendage, his back to the older man. Before Gildarts could do much to try to pull his arm away, he heard a strange clank and then a metallic screech. Gajeel moved away, and the Crash Mage stared at his arm in complete shock.

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!"

Gajeel chuckled, moving away from the older man, holding a metal hand. He'd bit through the metallic arm, ripping Gildarts' hand free from his arm and taking a huge bite out of it, gnawing on the metal.

"What? Ya took some of my magic, I'm takin' it back."

Gildarts gaped at the Dragon Slayer, not even able to form a response. Gajeel backed away, ripping off a finger and tossing it into his mouth. Levy was standing on the edge of the clearing still, covering her mouth as she tried not to giggle. Finally, the Crash Mage snapped his mouth shut, lifting his right hand raising open handed to point at the Dragon Slayer. Gajeel's eyes widened as a glow started around Gildarts' remaining hand, expanding before exploding at the Dragon Slayer. He threw himself to the side, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Levy wasn't in the path of the older man's attack. His Dragon was somewhat appeased to see that she wasn't, although they both shivered a little as the trees behind where they'd been standing exploded into small cubes. Gajeel caught the scent of iron and realized he was next to the pieces of his attack that had been detached earlier. He wouldn't be able to eat them, but they could still be useful. He pushed himself to his feet, scooping the cubes up and sticking most of them into his pocket.

The Dragon Slayer drew back his arm, chucking one cube and then another at the Crash Mage's back, but they just bounced off, the older man glancing over his shoulder at Gajeel. He looked forward again, sighing heavily.

"Congratulations. I officially don't want to fight anymore."

Gildarts waved the stump of his left arm towards the other side of the clearing, shaking his head slowly as he stared at that particular appendage. Levy whooped from the bush she was hiding behind, jumping out into the clearing and running to her mate. He caught her as she leapt at him, hugging her tightly. Gajeel glanced over at the S-Class Mage, his ears picking up a sound. The older man was standing with his handless arm held in front of his face, almost whimpering. The Dragon Slayer snorted and set the tiny woman down again, walking over to their opponent.

"Look, I'm sorry 'bout yer hand. I can make ya a new one?"

He fished out a few cubes of the iron from his pocket and held them out in offering. Gildarts looked at him for a few moments and slowly held out his arm skeptically. Gajeel snorted again and touched one of the cubes to the stump, focusing his magic into melding it with the metal that was already there and shaping the iron into a hand.

"It won't be as flexible, probably. I'll fix that later, don't wanna waste too much of my magic just yet."

Gildarts studied his new hand, narrowing his eyes as he opened and closed his fingers a few times.

"You're damn straight you'll fix it later. Now get out of here before I change my mind."

* * *

 _ **A/N sooooo sorry for the delay in this chapter. This is what happens when Muddyevil leaves things to me, proving once again that I am, in fact, the worst. Anyway, hope you like it, feel free to let me know in the reviews. Much loves!**_


	14. Chapter 14

Cana smirked as she struggled on her wings, trying to stay upright was hard even if Freed took all the responsibility of navigating. She spotted both Levy and Evergreen break through the rune barrier around the boat, but that was to be expected. That was always part of the plan.

"Get ready to get cast that barrier as soon as we land, Evergreen's pretty close behind us."

Freed nodded. He had already prepared most of the magic he would need, the one sticking point was going to be making a barrier strong enough to prevent Levy rewriting it until Cana had divined which path to go down. He was pretty sure she knew the language he was writing these runes in, but hopefully in the time it took for her to figure it out Cana would have had more than enough time. Cana had already drawn cards from her bag, shuffling through them and giving them just enough magic to tell her what they needed to know.

"I know what I'm doing. Just make sure you get those cards read as soon as possible, whatever I do isn't going to hold Levy for long."

The first runes had already started to fall when they hit the ground, Cana immediately skidding in the dirt and starting to throw down the cards that her magic drew her to. They scattered across the floor, and she instantly started to read.

Freed knew that the first runes only had to be strong enough to hold back Evergreen, her team were bound to be the first to arrive with her powers of flight. That would give him time to reinforce them before Levy arrived, and even then he wasn't expecting them to hold for long. He could write runes to keep the script mage out permanently, but they would use up far too much of his resources so early on in the day if he did.

Cana started to pore over the cards as Freed came to stand over her, drawing his sword while he continued to mutter under his breath.

"Why not set up a rune barrier that will keep Levy out around the boat?"

Freed's smirk was pure evil, and suddenly Cana was glad they were on a team this time around.

"Just you wait and see."

She didn't need to wait long, as suddenly Elfman came flying towards the barrier, already in Lizardman form with fist extended in front of him. Cana screamed as the ground shook with the impact, scattering her cards on the ground. Freed bent his knees as he anticipated the impact, maintaining his balance perfectly. Elfman landed in a crouch just outside the area, Evergreen fluttering to the ground next to him and hammering on the barrier with her fists even though she knew it was pointless.

"Freed! You filthy fucking rat!"

The Rune Mage's grin was feral as Evergreen sank to the floor, Elfman looking at her incredulously.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Rewrite them!"

Evergreen glared up at him, eyes narrowed to slits as she ground out her words.

"There's no fucking point, idiot. These are different runes, I don't know how to work with these ones and that bastard knows it."

Cana's teeth worried her lip as she studied the cards in front of her. They had moved in the impact, and now were showing two possibilities for the serenity path. She could do another reading but…

"How long do we have, Freed?"

The man scanned the edge of the forest, and she could almost hear the cogs turning in his head as he calculated. A few moments passed, both of them ignoring the bickering coming from outside their barriers, before Freed spoke.

"I give it two minutes until Levy gets here, and another three or four for her to break through the barrier. Why?"

Cana swore out loud. She wouldn't have time to redraw the cards completely, she would have to deal with what she had. At least she had gotten their chances to fifty percent from the fifteen-ish that it had been.

"Elfman fucked up the reading. I don't think I'm gonna have time to redraw it now."

Elfman laughed, not knowing how he had messed up their plan but glad that he had anyway. Freed cursed as well, at least she guessed that he did but it was in a language that she didn't know. He started to pace the perimeter, contemplating adding rune traps to some of the entrances to the trials before deciding against it. It wasn't really breaking the rules of the trial, but it was still bending them quite a bit. There was one thing he could do though…

Levy and Gajeel had gotten there by the time he had finished. He felt the tug on his runes as Levy started to rewrite them, and moved over to Cana to look over her shoulder.

"How are we doing? Two minutes and counting."

Cana groaned, hands hovering over the cards on the floor as her eyes darted backwards and forwards. Freed took a look over his shoulder, watching Gajeel, Evergreen and Elfman whisper between each other as Levy worked her magic on the barrier. No matter how much he strained his ears, he couldn't make out what they were saying.

"It's a close draw between two of them."

Freed gritted his teeth. If all three of them attacked them, he didn't know how long he could hold them off for.

"Well, it's better odds than we had originally. We're gonna have to pick one. Less than a minute left, and you gotta pick up your cards."

Cana cursed. It was such a crucial thing to forget. She started to scoop up the cards, choosing the path that she was sure the cards had been more certain about.

"C! We gotta go for…"

Her voice was cut off by the almost comical pop of the runes dissipating, and turned just in time to watch Gajeel and Elfman hurtling towards them, surrounded by a barrage of Evergreen's fairy bullets. She started to curl up to protect herself, but paused when she watched Freed.

Elfman hadn't bothered to switch forms, and a well placed elbow to the face as Freed dodged to the side sent him sprawling backwards as the Rune Mage's rapier blocked an Iron Dragon's sword from the right. The impact sent a clang across the clearing, and Freed staggered backwards as he tried to keep his footing. Her eyes were momentarily blinded as all of Evergreen's fairy dust combusted at once, and she got to her feet to try and help her teammate.

"Cana! GO!"

As the explosion dissipated Cana could see a rune barrier perfectly cutting off her and Freed, concentrating Evergreen's attack on the two men who were currently trying to recover from their new positions on the ground. He didn't need to tell her twice as she turned on her heel, and sprinted towards the tunnel. Freed followed not far behind, and she could hear the thundering roar of their opponents as they tried to get off one last attack before they were blocked off.

The clanging of the metal grate behind them told her she was safe, and she collapsed onto the wall, Freed taking up a similar position opposite her.

"Whew. That took up more of my magic than I particularly wanted it to."

Freed grimaced at her words, it was obvious he'd expended more than he had strictly wanted too as well. He took a deep breath, trying to mellow himself out before jumping to attention as he heard a rock fall from further up the path. He turned his head to look at Cana, narrowing his eyes and whispering so whoever it was couldn't hear them.

"Are you sure that this was the serenity path?"

Cana grimaced. It had been half and half between the two options, and it was just her luck that she would choose the wrong one. She whispered back, getting some of her attack cards ready out of her pack. They were generic cards, but she could pick more specific ones as soon as they knew who they were facing up against. She knew that she could do another reading, but that would use so much more energy than she currently had access to.

"It was one of two, I told you that. Even if it's not the serenity path it should still be the easiest out of all the others. You ready to start moving up?"

Freed nodded, drawing his sword and holding it in front of him as he slowly crept forward towards the other end of the cave. Cana had been in this route before, and she knew that the battle arena was inside of the cave, no open air which could be difficult if the two of them needed to fly. But then again, their opponent may be hindered just as much as they were if they needed to fly too.

They inched forward, keeping to the edges of the tunnel in order to try and get a good look at the person before them. Freed could still feel the pull of the runes around the boat, so it was either one of the S-Class wizards, or one of the teams they had already gone up against. And he was sure neither of them would have managed to get around him that quickly. None of the options were looking particularly good, at this point.

They stopped behind a rock, Freed casting runes to make them more difficult to spot. It wasn't invisibility, exactly. More they stopped any onlookers from wanting to look in that place for too long, their eyes just jumping over them. If anyone was particularly determined to see them, they'd be there, the same with if they moved up to start attacking. But if they stayed still, they should be okay. A touch of silencing runes added everything else they needed, and he was ready to poke his head out to finally catch a glimpse of his opponent.

"Well, fuck."

Cana watched him slump back down next to her, tilting his head back so it rested against the stone.

"What? Who is it?"

Her voice was hissed through clenched teeth, but he didn't even bother opening his eyes to look at her.

"Mirajane."

Cana turned her full body around to look at him, shaking his shoulder as she did. What the fuck was he talking about?

"Well I mean… it could be worse."

He shook his head, opening his eyes and staring at her, one turquoise and one a purple swirl of darkness. Oh. That wasn't good.

"We may have… maybe… well…"

Cana stared at him. It wasn't like Freed to lose his words. She waved her hands, gesturing him to spit it out.

"On Tuesday we had a fight. Kinda a big one. We were both stressed, and it escalated, and I told her to get out and we haven't spoken since."

Cana looked at him in shock, mouth opening and closing for a while before she began to speak.

"What…"

It came out louder than she had been anticipating, and Freed rushed forward to cover her mouth with his hand. She nodded, checking over the rock to see if she had alerted Mira, but the woman was still staring at the entrance of the cave, in her Satan Soul Form, and the silence runes had held up well.

"What the fuck, Freed!? And you never thought of mentioning this to me?"

Freed groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stared at the ground.

"I didn't think it was relevant."

"Not relevant? Freed she…"

He waved his hand in her direction, and she shut up. He was right. Fighting among themselves would do them no good now.

"What were the chances of us facing her? We were gonna go down the serenity path, win the trials and then I'd talk to her when it had all calmed down."

Cana sighed. Technically they didn't have to fight her, but the route they met her in would make it particularly difficult to sneak past. Well. All they could do was try.

"If we can get around there, I'm sure we can go straight on through to the middle and meet up with the guys on the other side. The Master never said we actually had to fight. Can you keep us covered with runes?"

Freed shook his head, sighing before poking back up over the rock they were hiding behind.

"These kind of runes can't be made portable without hiding us each from the other, and that's not gonna go well if one of us is spotted. We'll have to sneak around of our own volition. Be silent, and ready to attack if things go wrong. Her demon has very sensitive ears. Dark Ecriture: Absolute Shadow."

She watched as Freed's demon form slowly overtook him, body twisting and forming larger muscles and stronger armour than it had before. Rifling through her bag she chose the most appropriate cards for Mira, some of the holy ones should do it, and she and Freed could double up on lightning attacks which should take her down… that was if they couldn't get past.

Freed nodded, and she started to inch out from behind the rock they were hiding from, feeling a wave of tingles across her skin as she breached the rune barrier that was keeping them protected. As soon as Freed left the barrier it dissipated, and Cana wondered how much magic he managed to get back from that. She made sure to watch her footing, it would be bad now if she stumbled or set off a plume of fireflies to alert Mira to her presence. She didn't realise until she was halfway across the cave that she was holding her breath, but she couldn't bring herself to resume breathing again. She was so terrified that it would be enough for Mira to hear her. She could see the open gate at the other edge of the cave, one hundred metres… fifty…

The blast knocked her forward, completely off guard as she sprawled across the floor with no time to catch herself. A laugh filled the cave and Freed was at her side in seconds, a defensive rune barrier already up in front of him as another ball of darkness came flying towards them, flaring across the barrier before subsiding into nothingness and allowing her to see Mira behind it. She didn't look happy.

"Oh? You're trying to sneak past me, are you?"

Her voice was deep, and sent shivers down Cana's spine as she spoke. She might go out in the first round after all. Freed's fingers were moving at a lightning speed, and Cana wished she knew what he was setting up.

"Okay, Cana. We know the plan for Mirajane."

Cana nodded, and struggled to her feet. Her wrist was sore where she had jolted it badly, but she couldn't let it slow her down. She planted her feet, starting to feel the magic flow through her. The one magic spell that she knew that could take down Mirajane, and easily too. Freed's barrier held strong against the barrage of spells Mira was sending, and didn't show any sign of dropping. Her right forearm started to ignite as she held it out in front of her, black lines appearing across it as she summoned the spell.

" _Gather! O river of light that guides the fairies!_ "

Mira didn't seem to falter in her attacks, balls of darkness slamming into Freed's barrier, if anything, more frequently than before. Did she think she was fast enough to duck out of the beam when it came?

" _Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil!_ "

Within the beat between this line and the next, many things happened. Mira set off her last blast, Freed waiting until it smashed into the barrier before he released it to allow Cana's to flow through. The timing had been almost perfect, and Cana saw out of the corner of her eye as Freed started to move with more speed than Cana thought possible.

" _Fairy Glitter!_ "

The cave was filled with a brilliant light as Cana was blasted backwards, blinding her from her own magic. An almighty crash filled her ears as the rocks around her protested the attack, and she suddenly wondered if she would bring the entire mountain down around her. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all. The rock groaned again, before seeming to settle as the light started to fade. Panting heavily from the excursion Cana collapsed to the ground, raising her gaze to see…

Mira was stood in the middle of the cave, exactly where she had been before, completely unaffected. Her face was plastered in a grin, and she looked pleased with herself. But then again… of course she would.

"Oh, Cana. I thought you would know that Fairy Glitter wouldn't harm a Fairy Tail wizard."

Cana huffed, trying to catch her breath so she could reply. At least Mira didn't attack her instantaneously, she was too excited to play with her prey.

"I didn't need to hurt you. I just needed to distract you."

Freed was a blur of darkness, and he was behind Mira before her face even had time to register the shock. One hand extended out, and Mira was on the floor in a heap in seconds.

Mira had thought that, now they had had an argument, Freed wouldn't exploit her weakness. There was one spot, right between her wings, that no matter what she was doing filled her with desire for one thing and one thing alone. It had been a hell of a discovery. So as her knees turned to jelly she let out an almost pornagraphic moan, before cursing to herself when she saw Cana try to smother her giggles with her hands.

"Cana! We need to go!"

Freed's voice was low. Demonic. Sexy. She saw Cana get up and sprint to the exit, but it wasn't until a second later when Freed's hand left her back that she spun around with more speed than she thought she could muster and grabbed his wrist. He jumped in surprise, starting to struggle but she was too strong.

"Freed Justine. You do not turn me on and then run away."

Cana froze, just inside the exit to the cave and looked back at her partner. Freed's face was panicked, but she really _really_ didn't want to get in between this. Maybe in different circumstances, but not right now.

"Okay, guys. Just give me like thirty seconds to get out of hearing range and I'll…"

Mira chuckled, a sound that was pure evil and so stark to the current circumstances.

"Oh, Cana, you have a minute and you better run…"

Freed started to protest, but in seconds he had fallen to his knees, still in his demon form and taken Mira's face in his hands. Cana took Mira's advice, and started to sprint. It didn't help. The screams of pleasure found her within seconds.


End file.
